Alexandra B. Cunningham

Ms. Cunningham’s litigation and risk management practice focuses on product liability, toxic tort and environmental litigation, food contamination claims, and wrongful death and personal injury defense, including mass torts, class actions and multidistrict litigation.

Ms. Cunningham is head of the firm’s litigation team. She represents major corporate clients in all aspects of product liability, mass tort and toxic tort and environmental litigation, including successfully defending catastrophic injury and death claims; asbestos, benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, solvent and silica-related premises and product liability claims; large-scale environmental toxin and exposure claims, involving PFAS, PAHs, fluorides, coal combustion residuals and hexavalent chromium; and claims of bacterial contamination in food and beverage products. Ms. Cunningham also advises clients on legal issues related to COVID-19, including potential claims risk and mitigation, wrongful death, personal injury and nuisance claims defense strategies, and is actively defending companies in COVID-19 litigation. She also represents clients in general product liability and commercial litigation.

• National coordinating counsel, national regional counsel, trial counsel and local counsel for several Fortune 100 and 500 companies in mass tort and toxic exposure litigation.
• Provides strategic premarket and workplace litigation risk advice to product manufacturers and industrial employers, including guidance on potential risks of product or manufacturing operations or changes, regulatory compliance, investigations, litigation avoidance, and risk management and incident response for product failure, fatalities, crises or other catastrophic events, including COVID-19 fatalities or outbreaks.
• Substantial experience in representing international companies in US-based litigation, including forum and jurisdictional-based defense strategies and international discovery.
• Trial counsel in asbestos and mass tort cases around the country, including New York, California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia, where served as trial counsel for consolidated trial of 1,300 asbestos claims—the largest asbestos trial in Virginia history.
• Led successful defense and won dismissal of a high-profile federal lawsuit involving allegations of unsafe COVID-19 working conditions brought against one of the largest meat processing companies in the United States.
• Argued successful motion to dismiss on lack of legal duty in first “take home” asbestos exposure case filed in Arizona state court.
• Trial counsel in environmental exposure and other matters, including jury trial involving allocation of environmental liabilities under asset purchase agreement in Illinois federal court. Case settled on favorable terms before verdict.
• Led and argued multiple appeals before the Supreme Court of Virginia on tort and workplace exposure issues.
• Argued successful plea in bar in Newport News Circuit Court on novel issue of Virginia law resulting in dismissal with prejudice of multimillion-dollar asbestos wrongful death claim.
• Primary drafter of Virginia Supreme Court pleadings and petition for writ of certiorari filed in the United States Supreme Court challenging mass consolidation of asbestos cases.

• Recognized as a ‘Go To Lawyer’ for negligence law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2024

• Named a Litigation Star, Virginia, Benchmark Litigation, 2024-2025
• Recommended for Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Defense – Toxic Tort, Legal 500 United States, 2019-2024
• Recognized as a Leader in Product Liability: Toxic Torts, USA-Nationwide, Chambers USA, 2023-2024
• Recognized as a Leader in Product Liability & Toxic Torts, Virginia, Chambers USA, 2020-2024
• Recognized as a BTI Client Service All-Star, 2024
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Civil Litigation, The Washington Post Magazine and Virginia & West Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine, 2024
• Recognized as a member of Virginia Business magazine’s Legal Elite, 2022-2023
• Shortlisted for the Women in Business Law Awards for Product Liability Lawyer of the Year, 2022
• Inducted as a Virginia Law Foundation Fellow, Class of 2021
• Named among The National Law Journal’s Litigation Trailblazers, November 2020
• Recognized as runner-up in The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” feature, May 2020
• “Influential Women of Law,” Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2020)
• “Rising Star” in Civil Litigation Defense, Virginia Super Lawyers (2008, 2009, 2011–2014)
• Named Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2024), Best Lawyer for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions –  Defendants and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2016-2020, 2024) and Litigation – Environmental (2024), Best Lawyers in America
• “Top Peer Nominated Lawyer,” Women in the Law, Best Lawyers (2016-2019) 
• E. Randolph Williams Pro Bono Award

• Leadership Metro Richmond, Class of 2017
• Member, American, Virginia and Georgia Bar Associations
• Member, Defense Research Institute
• Board of Directors, YMCA of Greater Richmond
• Board of Directors, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation
• General Counsel, Virginia Association of Independent Schools
• Adjunct faculty member, University of Richmond School of Law, teaching “Appellate Advocacy”
• Former managing partner, Hunton & Williams – Charlottesville Pro Bono Office, 2014-2019