Gibson Dunn

Gibson Dunn

Headquarters	Wells Fargo Tower Los Angeles, California
No. of offices	21
No. of attorneys	1,900+ [1]
Major practice areas	Litigation, [2] General Practice.
Key people	Barbara L. Becker Chairperson Managing partner
Revenue	US$3.07 billion (2023) [3]
Date founded	1890
Company type	Law firm
Website	www.gibsondunn.com

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm has more than 1,900 attorneys and 1,000 staff in 21 offices across the world, including North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. ^[4] It is one of the largest ^[5] and most profitable ^[6] law firms in the world.

The firm is known for its litigation practice, particularly in appellate law. ^{[7] [8] [9]} It has a history of defending large corporations, in particular fossil fuel companies, from liability for environmental damages and health harms, including high-profile cases involving Chevron and Dole. ^[10] The firm has also sought to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency ban on asbestos, as well as aid companies in evading liability for their use of forever chemicals. ^[11]

History

The firm was founded in May 1890 by Republican corporate attorney John Bicknel and Democratic litigator Walter Trask. In 1897, Judge James Gibson joined the firm. Six years later, the firm merged with another law firm, belonging to former Los Angeles city attorney William Ellsworth Dunn and assistant city attorney Albert Crutcher. The merger gave the firm its name, which it still uses today. ^[12]

Barbara Becker joined the firm with mentor Dennis Friedman in 2000, moving from an M&A partnership at Chadbourne & Parke. ^[13] She was elected chair and managing partner in 2021. ^[14]

In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Gibson Dunn was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter stated: "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses." ^[15]

Notable cases

The firm is best known for its litigation practice, which has been named the top "Litigation Department of the Year" in the United States by The American Lawyer in several biannual rankings, most recently in 2020. ^[16] The firm is also known for its land use and real estate practices. ^[17] The firm's attorneys have argued more than 100 cases before the United States Supreme Court. ^[18]

Some of the firm's notable cases and clients include:

• Gibson Dunn is actively involved in homeless encampments-related cases. ^[19] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm represented West Side Community Organization (Westco), an organization that advocated for the relocation of homeless persons from Upper West Side to a downtown hotel in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. ^[20] Randy Mastro, a partner of the firm who represented it, was criticized for taking up the lawsuit and his home was vandalized in protest in October 2020. ^[20]
• The firm represented George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore , the litigation contesting certification of Florida's results in the 2000 United States presidential election. ^[21] Theodore Olsen, the partner who argued the case for Bush in the Supreme Court, ^[22] went on to serve as solicitor general in the Bush administration. ^[23]
• In 2009, Theodore B. Olson, a partner of the firm, successfully argued the case Citizens United v. FEC (2010) in its favor. ^[24] The verdict sanctioned businesses' limitless campaign spending, which, according to nonpartisan legal organization Campaign Legal Center, promoted corruption and black money. ^[25]
• The firm represented Apple, Inc. in its patent infringement suit against Samsung ( Apple v. Samsung ) relating to the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, and won an injunction in June 2012 blocking the sale of the Galaxy Nexus phone in the United States. ^[26] The injunction was vacated in October 2012 based on the results of the trial. ^{[27] [28]} It also represented Apple in Epic Games v. Apple , a lawsuit related to Apple's practices in the App Store and the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. ^[29]
• The firm represented Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, in a $17 billion contract dispute with purported seed money financier Paul Ceglia in 2011 ^[30] The case was thrown out and Ceglia was charged with fraud in 2012; he became a fugitive. ^[31]
• The firm is defending Intel against several multibillion-dollar antitrust lawsuits filed by AMD and the European Union. ^[32]
• The firm is representing CNN in its lawsuit against President Trump and many of his staff on the basis of Jim Acosta's right to a "hard pass", a clearance to enter the White House. ^[33]
• In 2009, the firm represented NBC Universal in its contract dispute with Conan O'Brien. ^[34]
• The firm represented Viacom in its billion-dollar copyright infringement lawsuit against Google and YouTube in Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. ^[35] After multiple rulings at the District Court and Appellate Court, the case was settled in 2014. ^[36]
• Governor Chris Christie hired Gibson Dunn attorney Randy Mastro to conduct an internal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Fort Lee lane closure scandal and representing the Governor in a later federal investigation. ^[37] The firm was later criticized by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton for its methods of record keeping, and accused the firm of "opacity and gamesmanship." ^[38]
• Gibson Dunn represented the plaintiffs in Haaland v. Brackeen pro bono in seeking to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act. This has led to accusations that Gibson Dunn is seeking to weaken federal protections for Native American tribes overall, opening the way for corporate exploitation of natural resources or Native American gaming. ^[39]
• The firm represented VMware in its $61 billion acquisition by Broadcom. ^[40]
• The firm represented Pioneer Natural Resources in its $59.5 billion acquisition by ExxonMobil. ^[41]
• The firm advised Hewlett-Packard in its £7 billion bid for Autonomy Corporation. ^[42]
• The firm advised Kraft in its $19.7 billion bid for Cadbury. ^[43]
• The firm advised Heineken in its $7.6 billion buyout of Mexican brewing conglomerate FEMSA. ^[44]
• The firm worked for Harlan Crow amid a controversy over his extensive and undisclosed gift-giving to Supreme Court Clarence Thomas. ^[45]

Environment and health harms

Gibson Dunn has a history of defending large corporations, in particular fossil fuel companies, from liability for environmental damages and health harms. According to DeSmog, "Gibson Dunn is a favorite firm of fossil fuel companies — aside from Chevron, it has represented a veritable “who’s who” of the industry, including the American Petroleum Institute, Energy Transfer, Enbridge, ConocoPhillips, Occidental, and many more." ^[10] Gibson Dunn has a track record of using lawsuits against critics of the fossil fuel industry. ^[10]

Some of the firm's notable cases related to environmental damage and health harms include:

• The firm has represented tobacco companies. ^[46]
• The firm is representing Chevron in its long-running, $27 billion environmental dispute in Ecuador. ^{[47] [48]} According to The Intercept , Gibson Dunn has hired private investigators to track Steven Donziger and created "a team of hundreds of lawyers to fight him". ^[49] This resulted in a boycott launched in April 2021 by the student group Law Students for Climate Accountability. ^{[49] [50]}
• The firm is representing the Dole Food Company in a multibillion-dollar toxic tort suit in Nicaragua involving allegations of farmworker sterility stemming from Dole's use of certain pesticides. ^[10] After the firm uncovered substantial evidence of fraud and a conspiracy between the plaintiffs and Nicaraguan judges to extort Dole out of billions with manufactured claims, courts in the United States dismissed multiple related suits against Dole and refused to enforce several Nicaraguan judgments. ^[51]
• Gibson Dunn provided advice to the private prosecutor responsible for conducting the criminal contempt case against Steven Donziger. Since Gibson Dunn also acts for Chevron, The Nation wrote that the collaboration raised issues of fairness. ^[52]
• Gibson Dunn represented a group of car companies seeking to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency ban on asbestos, a carcinogenic mineral. Gibson Dunn partner David Fotouhi argued, "EPA failed to demonstrate that chrysotile asbestos presents an unreasonable risk of injury." ^[11]
• Gibson Dunn represented International Paper in relation to its use of PFAS ("forever chemicals"). ^[11]
• Gibson Dunn sued the Environmental Protection Agency after it introduced more stringent water quality standards for legacy pollutants known as PCBs. ^[11]

Political contributions

According to OpenSecrets, Gibson Dunn was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.45 million, 55% to Democrats. ^[53] Since 1990, Gibson Dunn contributed $6.15 million to federal campaigns. ^[54]

Controversies

In 2007, the Montana Supreme Court found that Gibson Dunn "acted with actual malice" ^{[55] : 88  [56]} in suing art expert Steve Seltzer, who said that a painting signed by Charles Marion Russell was actually created by his grandfather Olaf Carl Seltzer, thus reducing its value. The Supreme Court said that Gibson Dunn attempted to use the courts to intimidate Seltzer, which "amounts to legal thuggery". ^{[55] : 92  [56]} The Court upheld the $9.9 million punitive damage award to Seltzer that was initially awarded in 2005, but appealed by both sides. ^[56]

Gibson Dunn has been accused of unethical litigation tactics, and has been covered in the legal press for facing nearly one-million dollars in punitive sanction fees for facilitating discovery misconduct by Facebook. ^[57] Gibson Dunn, defending Facebook for its illegal disclosure of data to Cambridge Analytica, engaged in objective "bad faith" and continued to do so notwithstanding federal judge Vincent Chhabria's discussion that Gibson Dunn should behave more ethically. ^[57]

Gibson Dunn has been criticized for its pro bono representation in Haaland v. Brackeen seeking to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act. ^{[58] [59] [60]} Matthew McGill, a partner at the firm, argued that the Indian Child Welfare Act discriminates against non-Native people who wish to adopt Native children. ^{[59] [61]} The United States Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Gibson Dunn's clients 7-2, rejecting all of the challenges either on their merits or for lack of standing. ^[62]

Notable former and present attorneys and staff

• Richard Bierschbach, Dean of Wayne State University Law School
• Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. ^[63]
• Robert C. Bonner, former Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. ^[64]
• David W. Burcham, former president of Loyola Marymount University
• Aileen Cannon, who was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by President Donald Trump.
• Gregg Costa, former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. ^[65]
• Tom Cotton, former associate and current U.S. Senator. ^[39]
• Stuart Delery, former White House Counsel ^[66]
• Michael J. Desmond, 48th Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.
• Miguel Estrada, U.S. Supreme Court practitioner and former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Charlie Falconer, former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair ^[67]
• George J. Hazel, former Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. ^[68]
• James C. Ho, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
• Theodore Olson, former United States Solicitor General from 2001 to 2004 under President George W. Bush.
• Kelly Perdew, former associate and reality television star on The Apprentice .
• Jennifer H. Rearden, Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Eugene Scalia, former Solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor and former United States Secretary of Labor in the first Donald Trump administration.
• Róbert Ragnar Spanó, former President of the European Court of Human Rights. ^[69]
• Benjamin B. Wagner, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California from 2009 to 2016.
• Debra Wong Yang, former L.A. Superior Court Judge and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

See also

• List of largest law firms by profits per partner

References

1. "Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP".
2. Dayal, Mahira (20 November 2023). "Gibson Dunn Climbs Energy Deal Leader Board on Texas Bet". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
3. "Gibson Dunn". ALM. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
4. "About the Firm". Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
5. "The 2024 Am Law 100 Ranked by Gross Revenue". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
6. "The 2024 Am Law 100 Ranked by Profits Per Equity Partner". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
7. "Ranking Tables USA - Nationwide Appellate Law". Chambers and Partners. Retrieved 2022-11-30. [Gibson Dunn] [m]aintains its premier standing in the appellate arena...
8. "Best Law Firms for Appellate Litigation". Vault. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
9. "Appellate Group of the Year: Gibson Dunn". Law360. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
10. Sanders, Emily (2024-01-05). "The Law Firm Helping Big Oil Weaponize the First Amendment". DeSmog.
11. Lerner, Sharon (2025-01-22). "Donald Trump's No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm". ProPublica.
12. "Our Story". Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
13. Chen, Vivia "Paradigm Shift: Power-Lawyer Mom, Stay-at-Home Dad" The Am Law Daily, October 1, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
14. Stokes, Samantha "Female lawyers are gaining seats at the table. Here are 9 women in charge of elite law firms" Business Insider, March 12, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
15. Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Mattu, Ravi; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (2 November 2023). "Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
16. "Challenge Accepted: Gibson Dunn, Litigation Department of the Year Winner ", The American Lawyer via Law.com, December 29, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
17. "Real Estate Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn", The American Lawyer via Law.com, January 17, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
18. ""Gibson Dunn Attorneys Argue Their 100th Case Before The U.S. Supreme Court", GibsonDunn.com". Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
19. "A legal powerhouse takes on homeless encampments". Los Angeles Times.
20. "Gibson Dunn's Randy Mastro says vandals 'picked the wrong guy' as NYSBA decries atty harassment". WestLaw Today.
21. "The Two Teds - Episode 2 - Bush v Gore and Election Litigation". Gibson Dunn. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
22. "oyez html5 player". 2015-09-24. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
23. "Olson, Theodore B." Gibson Dunn. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
24. "U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Restrictions on Corporate and Union Campaign Speech". January 22, 2010.
25. "How Does the Citizens United Decision Still Affect Us in 2022?". Campaign Legal Center.
26. "Judge Blocks Sales of Samsung Phone That Apple Says Infringes Patents". 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
27. Samsung to appeal US Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction after tablet ruled innocent [Update: Request filed], thenextweb.com, August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
28. Diane Bartz (Oct 11, 2012). "U.S. court clears Samsung phone, setback for Apple". Reuters. Retrieved Oct 11, 2012.
29. "Apple enlists Gibson Dunn to fight Epic Games suit, law firm previously retained in Samsung battle". AppleInsider. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
30. Hill, Kashmir (May 27, 2011). "Gibson Dunn Goes Medieval on Facebook Plaintiff - Above the LawAbove the Law".
31. Smith, Patrick "After Pummeling by Gibson Dunn and NY Arrest, Facebook Fugitive Finally Gets a Win" Law.com, June 18, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
32. "A.M.D. and Its War With Intel". New York Times. 21 June 2008.
33. "CNN sues President Trump and top White House aides for barring Jim Acosta". CNN. 13 November 2018.
34. Hill, Kashmir (January 19, 2010). "'Bye, everybody, bye!': An End in Sight for the Conan-Leno-NBC Debacle? - Above the LawAbove the Law".
35. "Viacom Taps Ted Olson for YouTube Appeal". amlawdaily.typepad.com.
36. Stempel, Jonathan (March 18, 2014). "Google, Viacom settle landmark YouTube lawsuit". Reuters.
37. "Hiring by Christie Suggests He May Be on the Defensive". New York Times. 16 January 2014.
38. Porter, David (8 August 2016). "GWB Closure Defendants Want to Put Christie Lawyers on Stand". NBC 4 NY. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
39. Chen, Vivia (2021-11-23). "Gibson Dunn Pro Bono Case Draws Ire of Some Native Americans". Bloomberg Law . Archived from the original on 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
40. "Deal Diary: Gibson, Wachtell Lead VMware Sale to Broadcom". The Deal. 12 June 2022.
41. "Big Deal in Big Oil: Davis Polk, Gibson Dunn Lead Exxon's $59.5B Buy of Pioneer Natural Resources". The American Lawyer. 11 October 2023.
42. "H-P Plans to Spin Off PC Business - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. 19 August 2011.
43. "Dealmakers of the Week:Barbara Becker of Gibson Dunn and Sarah Jones of Clifford Chance". The American Lawyer.
44. "Cleary, Gibson Dunn Slake M&A Thirst With $7.6 Billion Beer Deal". amlawdaily.typepad.com.
45. "Billionaire Harlan Crow, Benefactor to Justice Thomas, Rebuffs Senate on Ethics Probe". Bloomberg.com. 2023-05-23.
46. Lowe, Zach (October 16, 2008). "Tobacco litigation means work for Gibson Dunn, Jones Day, others". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
47. "Law.com". Law.com.
48. Chevron accuses Ecuadorean plaintiffs of extortion
49. Lerner, Sharon (April 7, 2021). "Law Students Denounce Chevron's Law Firm Over Steven Donziger case". The Intercept. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021.
50. Sloan, Karen (April 7, 2021). "Law Student Climate Change Activists Target Gibson Dunn" . Law.com. American Lawyer Media.
51. "Law.com". Law.com.
52. North, James (27 January 2022). "Chevron's Prosecution of Steven Donziger". The Nation. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
53. "Lawyers & Lobbyists: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups". OpenSecrets.org. OpenSecrets.
54. "Organizations: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher". OpenSecrets.org. OpenSecrets . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
55. "W. Steve Seltzer v. Steve Morton, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, and Dennis A. Gladwell" (PDF).
56. Paul (March 13, 2007). "Gibson Dunn Used 'Legal Thuggery,' Say Montana Supremes". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021.
57. Frankel, Alison (4 April 2022). "Facebook, Gibson Dunn face $854K sanctions demand in Cambridge Analytica class action". Reuters.
58. Patrice, Joe (November 8, 2022). "Most Firms Don't Advocate Cultural Genocide Pro Bono, But This Biglaw Firm Will! - Above the LawAbove the Law".
59. "Gibson Dunn Pro Bono Case Draws Ire of Some Native Americans". news.bloomberglaw.com.
60. Kriegman, Michele (November 8, 2022). "The Supreme Court May Ensure Native Kids' Ancestry Is Erased—Just Like Mine Was" – via slate.com.
61. "Why Gibson Dunn's 'Best Interest of the Child' Has a Dark Side". news.bloomberglaw.com.
62. "Supreme Court preserves law that aims to keep Native American children with tribal families". AP NEWS. 15 June 2023.
63. "Preet Bharara - Biography". NYU School of Law . Archived from the original on 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
64. "Bonner, Robert". Gibson Dunn. Archived from the original on 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
65. Curriden, Mark. "Gregg Costa traded judge's robes for Gibson Dunn's Houston office". Houston Chronicle. No. 26 December 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
66. Goudsward, Andrew (17 August 2023). "Top White House lawyer to step down, no replacement named". Reuters. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
67. Fisher, Lucy (18 April 2021). "Labour drawn into Greensill row as it emerges key Starmer ally works for lobbying firm". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
68. "Former U.S. District Judge George Hazel to Join Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C." March 1, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
69. "Spano, Robert". Gibson Dunn. Retrieved 2023-08-09.

External links

• Official website