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Tonya M. Esposito, Chair of the Antitrust Litigation & Competition Regulation Practice, focuses her practice on a variety of consumer issues, including financial services, antitrust, and marketing and advertising. She has considerable experience representing clients in private litigation, as well as in government investigations brought by state attorneys general, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

With deep experience representing a variety of financial institutions in both litigation and compliance matters, Tonya represents clients in litigation involving claims brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the state deceptive acts and practices laws (UDAAP), and many types of internal and government investigations. She regularly handles matters involving credit cards, student loans, residential and commercial mortgages, as well as privacy and FinTech issues.

Tonya also represents clients in complex domestic and multinational antitrust investigations and litigation across a wide range of industries, including health care, air passenger and air cargo, higher education, TFT-LCD and CRT products, automotive parts, and rubber chemicals, as well as in complex commercial matters including class action litigation. She regularly helps clients develop and implement compliance programs, including training and policy drafting, addressing virtually all aspects of state and federal competition laws. Tonya also has deep experience representing clients in merger investigations brought by both the FTC and DOJ, as well as formulating strategies for negotiating and responding to Second Requests for information .

Tonya also represents a variety of consumer products companies in investigations, substantiation proceedings, and litigation brought by the FTC, FDA, the state Attorneys General, as well as private litigants. She works with clients to develop and implement compliant marketing and advertising campaigns and also helps them defend the full scope of consumer claims brought by individual and class counsel, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the privacy laws, the autorenewal laws, and beyond. Tonya has considerable experience representing clients in the personal care products, cosmetics, luxury brands, weight loss and wellness companies, dietary supplements, and food manufacturer markets.

As a Washington lawyer, Tonya represents companies and individuals in all phases of government and internal investigations as well as in enforcement proceedings.

Concentrations

  • Antitrust
  • Class and collective actions
  • Commercial litigation
  • Consumer class actions
  • ESG, corporate citizenship and human rights
  • False advertising, product labeling, and warnings
  • Financial products and technology
  • Products liability and complex torts
  • Securities and fiduciary duty litigation
  • Whistleblower and corporate internal investigations
  • White collar, internal investigations, and false claims

Capabilities

Experience

  • Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 1997-2000
    • Federal Trade Investigator, Bureau of Competition; Mergers II, 1998-2000
    • Honors Paralegal, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 1997-1998

Recognition & Leadership

  • Listed Benchmark Litigation, "Litigation Star," 2024-2025
  • Selected, JD Supra, “Reader’s Choice Awards – Top Author,” 2020
  • Recognized, American University Washington College of Law’s The Advocate, "Leading Lawyer," 2019
  • Recognized, Federal Trade Commission, “Meritorious Service Award,” 1998
  • Recognized, Federal Trade Commission, “Outstanding Team Award,” 1998-1999
  • Recognized, American University Washington College of Law, “Antitrust Dean's Fellow”
  • Member, Personal Care Products Council (PCPC)
  • Member, Law360 Editorial Advisory Board, Consumer Protection, 2024
  • Board of Trustees, Trinity Washington University, 2017-Present
  • Board Member, Trinity Washington University Alumnae Association, 2008-2017
    • Treasurer, 2008-2017
    • Washington, D.C. Regional Director, 2008-Present
  • Board of Directors, CentroNía, 2021-Present
  • Board of Directors, Greater DC Diaper Bank, 2020-Present
    • Chair, Governance Committee
  • Judge, D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition, 2021
  • Member, National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, 2015-2016
  • Member, Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia
    • Co-Chair, Litigation Forum, 2012-Present

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., American University Washington College of Law
    • Member, The Administrative Law Review
  • B.A., Trinity College
Admissions
  • District of Columbia
  • Florida
  • Maryland
Languages
  • Spanish

Related Capabilities

Litigation Financial Services Litigation Antitrust Litigation & Competition Regulation Commercial Litigation State Attorneys General Practice Food, Beverage & Agribusiness Class Action Litigation Complex Torts Fintech Retail