Litigation
State Attorneys General
Gibson Dunn defends companies facing the most consequential AG investigations, enforcement actions, and multistate litigation in the country—drawing on senior government experience and cross-practice depth that no other firm can match.
50 States
AG experience spanning every state plus the District of Columbia
8+ Former AG Office Lawyers
Senior roles inside state AG offices nationwide
Cross-Practice Depth
Consumer protection, privacy, antitrust, ESG, AI, employment, and beyond
Multistate & Federal Coordination
Simultaneous AG, FTC, SEC, DOJ, and CFPB proceedings
Overview
Gibson Dunn’s State Attorneys General Practice Group defends clients in high-stakes investigations, litigation, and enforcement actions brought by state Attorneys General across the United States.
State Attorneys General have emerged as among the most powerful and aggressive regulators in the country. They are pursuing enforcement actions across every major industry—consumer protection, data privacy, antitrust, artificial intelligence, ESG, employment, healthcare, and environmental matters—often in coordination with one another and alongside or in competition with federal agencies such as the FTC, SEC, DOJ, and CFPB. For companies, these investigations pose serious financial, operational, and reputational risk, and they demand counsel with deep experience on both sides of the AG enforcement process.
Gibson Dunn brings that experience. Our team includes experienced State AG practitioners and former senior officials from State AG offices, giving us an insider’s understanding of how AG offices operate, how enforcement priorities are set, and how to most effectively advocate for clients. We have represented some of the world’s largest companies in multibillion-dollar AG matters and have a proven record of resolving investigations before they escalate, defeating enforcement actions at trial, and negotiating outcomes that protect our clients’ business interests.
What sets our practice apart is its integration with the full resources of Gibson Dunn’s litigation platform. State AG matters rarely stay in a single doctrinal lane—they routinely implicate antitrust, consumer protection, privacy, white collar, environmental, and healthcare law, often within the same matter. Our practice operates as a coordinating layer, assembling the right combination of substantive expertise for each engagement while maintaining a team of attorneys whose core focus is State AG work. The result is a practice that can handle the full lifecycle of AG matters: proactive counseling and compliance, responding to civil investigative demands and subpoenas, interfacing with grand juries, defending enforcement litigation, managing multistate coordination, and trying cases to verdict.
We have built close working relationships with AG offices across the country. Our lawyers understand the political dynamics, enforcement philosophies, and internal structures of these offices because many of them helped run those offices. That institutional knowledge—combined with our track record of results—allows us to engage credibly and effectively with AG staff and leadership, often resolving matters through early, strategic engagement before formal proceedings are initiated.
The Gibson Dunn Advantage
“Their global footprint and deep bench of professionals allows them to take on the largest cases for companies. They provide top-quality representation when it comes to high-stakes litigation.”
Chambers USA
Areas of Focus
Consumer Protection
State AGs are the primary enforcers of state consumer protection statutes, which carry broad prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices. We defend companies in investigations and enforcement actions involving advertising, marketing, pricing, disclosure, and sales practices across every consumer-facing industry. Our representations have encompassed matters initiated by individual AG offices as well as coordinated multistate investigations, and we regularly engage with AG staff and leadership to resolve consumer protection inquiries before they become enforcement actions.
Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
The rapid expansion of state privacy laws—led by statutes in California, Texas, Virginia, Colorado, and Connecticut, among others—has given AG offices powerful new enforcement tools. We defend companies in privacy investigations, data breach inquiries, and enforcement actions under both comprehensive privacy statutes and sector-specific regulations. Our team includes lawyers who have counseled major technology platforms through precedent-setting privacy enforcement actions, including the first-ever enforcement action under certain state data privacy statutes.
Antitrust and Unfair Competition
State AGs are increasingly active antitrust enforcers, pursuing cases involving algorithmic pricing, market allocation, monopolization, and mergers. We defend companies in single-state and multistate antitrust investigations and enforcement actions, including matters that run parallel to DOJ and FTC proceedings. Our experience includes representations in some of the largest AG-driven antitrust matters in the country, drawing on team members who led antitrust enforcement at the state level.
Artificial Intelligence
AG offices are beginning to investigate and regulate the use of AI across industries, including in hiring, lending, insurance, healthcare, and content moderation. We counsel companies on the rapidly evolving AG enforcement landscape around AI and defend against investigations and enforcement actions targeting AI-driven products and practices. Our team includes former senior technology executives and government officials who bring deep fluency in AI governance, policy, and compliance.
ESG, DEI, and Political Investigations
A new category of AG enforcement has emerged around ESG investing practices, corporate DEI programs, and politically charged business decisions. We defend companies facing AG investigations driven by these issues, including matters involving competing demands from AG offices with opposing political orientations. Our bipartisan team is uniquely positioned to navigate these politically sensitive matters, drawing on relationships across the ideological spectrum.
Employment and Workplace Safety
AG offices increasingly bring employment-related enforcement actions involving worker classification, wage practices, workplace safety, and discrimination. We defend companies in these investigations and enforcement actions, often coordinating with our labor and employment practitioners to address both the AG enforcement dimension and the broader employment law landscape that accompanies it.
Healthcare and Life Sciences
State AGs enforce consumer protection, fraud, pricing, and regulatory compliance laws against pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare companies. We have deep experience in AG investigations involving drug pricing, opioid-related claims, marketing practices, and compliance with state healthcare regulations. Our representations have included bellwether AG trials and coordinated multistate healthcare enforcement actions.
Environmental and Products Liability
AG offices are pursuing enforcement actions involving PFAS, emissions, environmental contamination, and product safety. We defend companies in environmental AG matters, including multistate coordinated investigations and enforcement actions running parallel to federal EPA and DOJ proceedings. Our environmental litigation team works closely with the State AG practice to manage the intersection of federal and state environmental enforcement.
Securities and Financial Services
State AGs exercise enforcement authority over securities practices, financial services, and consumer lending, often in coordination with federal regulators such as the SEC, CFTC, and CFPB. We defend financial institutions and public companies in AG investigations involving disclosure, governance, market practices, and consumer financial products, drawing on team members with extensive SEC and financial regulatory experience.
Practice Leaders
News & Insights
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Related Capabilities
- Antitrust and Competition
- Artificial Intelligence
- Consumer Products and Retail
- Consumer Protection
- ESG: Risk, Litigation, and Reporting
- Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort
- False Claims Act / Qui Tam Defense
- Labor and Employment
- Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation
- Product Liability
- Securities Enforcement
- Tech and Innovation
- White Collar Defense and Investigations