Gretchen Freeman Cappio

Seattle

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101

206.623.1900 [email protected] 206.623.3384

Download PDF

Gretchen Freeman Cappio is a partner at Keller Rohrback L.L.P., a nationally renowned law firm known for its skillful, effective advocacy. Gretchen's law practice emphasizes complex, cutting-edge litigation. She has played key roles in many well-known cases, including in the multibillion-dollar Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” litigation and in groundbreaking litigation holding Wells Fargo accountable for its unauthorized account scheme. Gretchen’s advocacy also extends to high-profile public health cases, and she serves as the primary client contact for major governmental clients, including in the massive Opioid multidistrict litigation. In that case, she has helped negotiate numerous agreements between states and local governments to allocate settlement funds that are dedicated to addressing the devastating impacts of the opioid epidemic. She has also successfully advocated for the fairer pricing of drugs and devices, including in the EpiPens Marketing litigation, for which she and her team have been honored by the American Antitrust Institute, winning an Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Practice Award in 2022.

In addition, judges have appointed Gretchen to leadership positions in a number of high-profile cases that are currently pending. She helps lead litigation about the safety and reliability of vehicles in the ZF-TRW Airbag, GM Transmission, and Chevy Bolt litigations, and she advocates for the security of data in the Blackbaud Data Breach litigation.

Gretchen’s leadership and devotion to justice drive her legal work and personal time. Her colleagues at Keller Rohrback L.L.P. recognized these skills by electing her to the firm’s Executive Committee. Gretchen is a founding board member of the Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association (MAMA), an organization supporting mothers in the legal profession, now with nine chapters across the United States. She is also the proud mother of two daughters, both of whom inspire her to seek justice every day.

Articles & Presentations

Guest Lecturer, Litigating MDLs, Harvard Law School (February 19, 2025).

Guest Lecturer, Latest Developments in Nuance Law, Harvard Law School (November 1, 2023).

Guest Lecturer, Litigating MDLs, Stanford Law School (March 2, 2023).

Quoted, Buyers Gaining Ground in ‘Right To Repair’ Fight, Law360, (April 8, 2022).

Quoted, Products Liability Group of the Year: Keller Rohrback, Law360, (February 16, 2022).

Conference on MDL Rules and Innovation, Emory Institute for Complex Litigation, Miami (March 9-10, 2022).

Guest Lecturer, MDL Mass Tort and Class Action Cases, Seattle University School of Law (March 8, 2022).

Author, Letter to the Editor in New York Times, Mental Health on College Campuses Amid Covid (January 4, 2022).

Guest Lecturer, Complex Litigation, MDL Experience, and Bellwether Trials, Seattle University School of Law (September 23, 2021).

Presenter, Statewide Opioid Litigation Update, Colorado County Attorneys Association Virtual Summer Conference (June 11, 2021).

Guest Lecturer, MDL Mechanics Q&A, Seattle University School of Law (March 8, 2021).

Guest Lecturer, From Takeoff to Landing: Litigating MDLs, Stanford Law School (February 23, 2021).

Presenter, Trials in Class Actions and Post-Trial Motions; Panelist, Settlement Strategies, Law Seminars International Presents: The 16th Annual Conference on Litigating Class Actions (November 12-13, 2020).

Guest Lecturer, From Takeoff to Landing: Litigating the MDL, Stanford Law School (February 14, 2020).

Presenter, Opioid Class Action Litigation, Colorado Municipal League: Annual Seminar on Municipal Law (September 27-28, 2019).

Presenter, Settlement Strategies, Law Seminars International Presents: The 15th Annual Conference on Litigating Class Actions (May 9-10, 2019).

Guest Lecturer, Multidistrict Litigation, Stanford Law School (February 22, 2019).

Presenter, Discovery and Ethical Rules of the Road for Working with Expert Witnesses, ABA Section of Litigation (July 19, 2018).

Presenter, Bristol Myers Squibb Panel, UC-Irvine, UC-Berkeley, & Emory University Schools of Law First Joint Coordination Conference, Berkeley (June 5, 2018).

Presenter, Consumer Protection and the Opioid Crisis; Presenter, Corporate Fraud Against Consumers; Presenter, Settlement Strategies for Class Actions and Multidistrict Litigation, Law Seminars International Presents: The 14th Annual Conference On Litigating Class Actions (May 10-11, 2018).

Presenter, Causation and Science, HarrisMartin’s Plaintiff Opioid MDL Conference (January 8, 2018).

Presenter, Opioid, Equifax & Talcum Powder, Equifax Data Breach: What Happened? Who Was Impacted? What Are the Damages?, HarrisMartin MDL Conference (November 29, 2017).

Presenter, Effectively Persuading Your Judge, NCLC Consumer Class Action Symposium, National Consumer Law Center (November 18, 2017).

Presenter, 22nd Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, Practising Law Institute (2017).

Panelist, 13th Annual Conference on Litigating: Settlement Strategies for Class Actions and Multidistrict Litigation, Law Seminars International (April 28, 2017).

Panelist, EmoryLaw NextGen Conference and EmoryLaw Fed. Judicial Ctr. and JPML Program (December 14-16, 2016).

Panelist, Settlements in Mass Tort and Class Action Litigation, HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference (July 27, 2016).

Panelist, Dissecting the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, American Association for Justice webinar (May 26, 2016).

Panelist, VW Diesel Emissions Litigation: A Case Study of the Interplay Between Government Regulatory Activity and Consumer Fraud Class Actions, Law Seminars International (May 6, 2016).

Presenter, Consumer Financial Services Institute 2016: Data Security & Privacy Issues, Practising Law Institute (May 12, 2016).

Panelist, Class Action and Data Breach Litigation, HarrisMartin Pharmaceutical and Environmental Mass Tort Litigation (March 30, 2016).

Panelist, Current State of the Law on Ascertainability and Standing, Bridgeport Consumer Class Action Litigation Conference (January 2016).

Panelist, HarrisMartin MDL Conference Volkswagen and Pharmaceutical Update: RICO and Additional Clients (December 2, 2015).

Panelist, Diesel Emissions Scandal, Bridgeport Volkswagen Class Action & MDL Seminar (November 23, 2015).

Panelist, HarrisMartin Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Litigation Conference: RICO and Additional Defendants (October 27, 2015).

Panelist, The Eleventh Annual Comprehensive Conference on Class Actions: Data Breaches: Cases at the Intersection of Class Actions and Internet Technology, Law Seminars International (June 4, 2015).

Panelist, A View From the Trenches: What's Working and What's Not Working with Mediators, ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Meeting 17th Annual Spring Conference - Solutions in Seattle (April 16, 2015).

Presenter, Coming of Age: The Differences between Employee and Consumer Cases, HarrisMartin Data Breach Litigation Conference (March 25, 2015).

Presenter, Managing Complex Litigation 2014: Class Actions; Mass Torts & MDL, Practising Law Institute (October 21, 2014).

Presenter, Recent Settlement Trends in Class Actions and Multidistrict Litigation: A Detailed Look at the Process for Settling and Administering Settlements: How case law in the past several years is playing out in the courts and in ADR; best practices for designing a settlement that the courts will approve; how to administer the settlement once it is approved, Class Action Conference (June 13, 2014).

Presenter, Recent Development, Issues in Data Breach Litigation, HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: Target Data Security Breach Litigation (March 26, 2014).

Presenter, Class Actions and Other Aggregate Litigation Seminar: Post-Certification Motion Issues in Class Actions, Law Seminars International (May 14, 2013).

Panelist, Chartis Security & Privacy Seminar (October 20, 2011).

Presenter, Toxic Torts: Toxins In Everyday Products, 20th Annual American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Spring CLE Meeting (April 1, 2011).

Author, Erosion of Indigenous Right to Negotiate in Australia, 7 Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J. 405 (1998).

Practice Emphasis

Education

Dartmouth College B.A., magna cum laude, 1995
Religion, Environmental Studies Certificate, Phi Beta Kappa
Foreign Studies - 1992 Germany; 1994 Kenya

University of Washington School of Law J.D., 1999
Executive Comments Editor, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 1998-1999

Bar and Court Admissions

1999, Washington

2000, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

2008, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

2009, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

2009, U.S. Supreme Court

2011, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

2011, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

2015, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

2018, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

2020, Michigan

2020, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

2024, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

2024, Arizona

Lawdragon 500 leading lawyers 2025