Megan Cooney is a partner in the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment, Class Actions, and Litigation Practice Groups.
Megan’s practice focuses on high stakes employment and class action litigation. She has represented employers across the country in class actions, collective actions, representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act, and sensitive individual actions alleging a broad range of employment-related claims. Megan has extensive experience litigating wage and hour, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and worker misclassification claims.
Megan also has extensive experience advising employers regarding personnel policies, employee handbooks, job classification, termination issues, and other employment-related matters. Megan also represents clients in connection with workplace investigations and compliance audits. She has represented clients in a wide variety of industries, including technology, finance, healthcare, retail, industrial services, manufacturing, entertainment, and transportation.
Megan has been recognized for delivering significant results for clients. Lawdragon has recognized Megan in their guide of the 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers since 2022 and, in 2023, included Megan in the inaugural 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide which highlights those “who will define where the legal profession of our country goes” and whose “leadership will be called upon by businesses and individuals when they face their crossroads.” She was also recognized by Law360 as one of five Rising Stars in Labor & Employment. Megan was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2025 for her work in Litigation - Labor and Employment, and as “One to Watch” for 2023.
Megan’s recent representative experience includes:
- Complete trial victory for Amazon in an exemption misclassification action after defeating class certification and securing summary judgment on the federal claims. Ortiz v. Amazon.com LLC (Northern District of California). This victory was recognized by the Daily Journal as a Top Defense Verdict for 2022.
- Compelling arbitration of novel employment and consumer class action claims brought against retailer related to employee training programs.
- Defeating class certification for various technology, retail, and health care clients on wage and hour claims related to meal periods, rest breaks, overtime, compensable time, and other theories.
- Representing various companies in class action litigation related to COVID-19 policies.
- Full trial victory for Grubhub, Inc. in Lawson v. Grubhub Holdings Inc., et al. (Northern District of California), in the nation’s first common law “gig economy” independent contractor misclassification case to go to trial.
- Representing major technology company in connection with Fair Labor Standards Act collective action relating to regular rate of pay.
- Securing voluntary dismissal of class and representative actions raising wage and hour violations.
Megan earned her law degree magna cum laude in 2013 from Pepperdine University where she was a Literary Citation Editor for the Pepperdine Law Review and a member of the Interschool Appellate Advocacy Team. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2010 from California Lutheran University, graduating summa cum laude. Megan is a member of the State Bar of California.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Pepperdine University - 2013 Juris Doctor
- California Lutheran University - 2010 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- California Bar