The Consumer Law Group, P.C. Attorney Profiles
John C. Gayle, Jr.
A lifelong resident of Virginia, John Cole Gayle, Jr., attended Hampden Sydney College. After graduating cum laude with a
B.A. in 1976, John attended T.C. Williams Law School at the University of Richmond, where he won the Barnett
Moot Court Competition and was a member of the school's National Moot Court team. He passed the Virginia Bar in 1979.
As a young attorney, John began working for the legal concerns of everyday people, quickly discovering that many laws
left those who needed legal help the most with little legal recourse against wealthy corporate defendants.
Beginning in 1986, John began to question those laws publicly, publishing a series of articles addressing Virginia's
existing Lemon Laws. The articles challenged the many flaws and biases in Lemon Laws, focusing on the severe legal disadvantages
that auto buying consumers faced when confronted with the purchase of poorly built new cars or badly maintained used cars.
John argued that the time, money, and risk required to pursue justice under the Lemon Laws were prohibitive for consumers
and attorneys alike. Too often, Virginians who sought justice after making a bad car purchase did so in futility, ending up
stuck not only with a bad car, but also with unwarranted legal expenses.
John's article sparked an intense review of Lemon Laws in Virginia's legal community, building momentum for new and more
effective legislation. In 1988, John co-authored Virginia's new lemon law, known as the Motor Vehicle Warranty
Enforcement Act, with the invaluable assistance of Delegate Alan Diamonstein of Newport News,
which was quickly accepted by the Virginia Legislature. John's amendments were founded on fairness and built on his belief
that consumers should always get what they pay for. If they didn't, then the legal system was obliged to provide consumers
with legal safeguards to attain customer satisfaction, hold car dealers accountable, and encourage attorneys to offer
consumers quality representation.
The new legislation accomplished many of these goals. John has since authored new amendments to Virginia's Lemon Law
(1990 and 1998), and was involved in the important amendments to the Virginia Consumer Protection Act
in 1995, further broadening and strengthening the legal rights of consumers. He is recognized as Virginia's premier Lemon
Law expert and conducts training and seminars on this subject and on other consumer issues to legal and industry
professionals throughout Virginia and the United States. In addition, John has continued to write articles on Virginia's
Lemon Laws for various periodicals, and has testified before the subcommittee of the Virginia General Assembly hearing
proposed amendments to the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. John is a frequent lecturer and instructor
for Virginia continuing legal education (CLE) programs, and also lectured on miscellaneous automobile issues at the 1998,
1999, and 2004 Annual Consumer Rights Conference, sponsored by the National Consumer Law Center, and at the 2003 and 2004
National Association of Consumer Advocates Mid-Year Conference. John has appeared on local TV and radio on numerous
occasions, and is a past and current chairman of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Sub-committee on Consumer
Law.
In 1991, John became a sole practitioner with the law firm of Kane, Jeffries, & Gayle in Richmond, VA and continued
to build an impressive record of settlements, winning verdicts for his many clients in lemon law, fraud, and other areas.
After 20 years of helping Richmond area consumers come out ahead in thousands of cases that resulted in financial settlements
and awards, John founded The Consumer Law Group in 2003 to extend his unique expertise to consumers throughout
Virginia. Along with Lemon Law, John also represents clients in other areas of consumer law, such as automobile fraud, credit
report abuse, identity theft, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Truth In Lending litigation. He also represents victims of
personal injuries due to auto accidents .
John resides in Richmond and is married with a daughter and a son. He enjoys mountain climbing, biking, tennis, and dancing.
