Benchmark Litigation named Gibbs & Bruns on its annual shortlist of “Highly Recommended” litigation firms, recognizing 13 Gibbs & Bruns trial lawyers in its 2016 directory. This marks the ninth consecutive year that Gibbs & Bruns was honored as a top tier firm by the editors.
Houston powerhouse Gibbs & Bruns is beginning to outgrow its historically “boutique” status in both headcount and national star power. The firm receives resounding, indeed unanimous, accolades from peers: “Gibbs & Bruns is top-notch, clearly where they should be;” “they deserve the highest recommendation. They have a strong bench, with a lot of young lawyers who are very qualified;” and, “That whole crew is just storming this market. We compete with them for business and it is a very stiff fight.” Clients also offer vocal support, with one testifying, “We choose them because they are very competent, thorough, and creative in handling sophisticated commercial litigation. This is one of the top litigation boutiques in the country, and certainly in Texas.” The firm has had what many agree is an extremely successful year with major victories in the mortgage-backed securities arena for teams of institutional investors seeking reimbursement from Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Citigroup. Over the past three years, the firm has secured a series of well-publicized and favorable settlements with each bank, valued at $8.5, $4.5, and $1.1 billion, respectively.
Kathy Patrick has received overwhelming ovation for her work as lead counsel for the 22 institutional investors whose $8.5 billion settlement was officially approved at the end of January 2014. In March 2015, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division approved in its entirety the $8.5 billion Countrywide RMBS settlement negotiated by the firm on behalf of its RMBS clients, including PIMCO, Blackrock, MetLife and others. Patrick is called a “superwoman” by peers who marvel at her repeated successes in mortgage-backed securities cases in addition to the waves she has made with a newly filed $800 million LIBOR suit for Fannie Mae against nine of the world largest banks. Patrick is widely revered by peers who champion her ability to “come up with methods of actual viable claims that can attain recovery for people who have holdings in these failed mortgage bonds.” They continue, “Nobody else has been able to come up with this; that is why these enormously complex cases are so big and so important.”
The trial acumen of other noted stars Robin Gibbs and Barrett Reasoner was called into service by the El Paso Corporation, an affiliate of Kinder Morgan, in a lawsuit filed by 20 alleged US nationals who claimed they were victims or relatives of victims from three terrorist attacks by Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Israel some 12 years ago and are seeking in excess of $50 million in damages, including treble damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act based on alleged payments of illegal surcharges to the Iraqi government under the Oil for Food Program by third parties from whom El Paso purchased Iraqi crude oil. A peer marvels, “Robin Gibbs has unbelievable stamina – he tries cases all over the place!”
Scott Humphries, the firm’s managing partner, represents plaintiffs and defendants, largely in securities and contract disputes. He has worked with Patrick on the mortgage-backed securities cases, including the ResCap for which initial cash distributions to the trusts of several hundreds of millions of dollars took place shortly before the end of 2013.
The 13 Gibbs & Bruns lawyers highlighted in Benchmark’s 2015 directory include:
Robin Gibbs
Kathy Patrick
Grant Harvey
Barrett Reasoner
Robert Madden
Scott Humphries
Jeffrey Kubin
Mark Giugliano
Aundrea “Andi” Gulley
Sam Cruse
Brian Ross
Ayesha Najam
Ashley Kleber
