Gibbs & Bruns trial lawyers, Robin Gibbs, Kathy Patrick, Grant Harvey and Barrett Reasoner are named, once again, on the Legal 500’s annual “Leading Trial Lawyers” list for the United States. Legal 500 released its 2014 lawyer and law firm ranking directory on June 25, 2014.
Robin Gibbs is one of the co-founders of a firm which is ‘outstanding in all regards. The most impressive thing about these lawyers is that they are brilliant but have actual personalities as well – they are engaging, interesting people who are excellent at what they do’. Gibbs is currently active alongside the ‘extremely talented’ Grant Harvey in representing Fortune 500-listed healthcare provider DaVita in a substantial qui tam matter involving alleged improper billing to Medicare for drug ‘wastage’ over a nine-year time period. He is also representing ERG Resources in suits filed against Nabors Industries, Ramshorn International Limited, Parex, and Appleby seeking specific performance or damages for breach of contract and against Parex for tortious interference with ERG’s contract. Gibbs attracts much praise from clients: he is ‘a very strong courtroom presence, a good evaluator of circumstances, and a great communicator’. Barrett Reasoner is also ‘excellent’.
Kathy Patrick is one of the most prominent figures in a firm that is ‘without question one of the absolute best’. Patrick is ‘someone you want on your side; she commands respect and has a great grasp of the facts and the law‘. She is particularly known for handling immensely complex matters in the mortgage-backed securities space, acting for large institutional investors. One example was orchestrating an $8.5bn settlement with Bank of America on behalf of 22 institutional investors relating to $424bn of mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide. In 2013, Patrick acted for 17 institutional investors to achieve an agreement with ResCap and its affiliated debtors to grant an $8.7bn claim to 392 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts. One client enthuses: ‘I have never met an attorney who is better at all of these matters and at dealing with a diverse client group’.
The Leading Trial Lawyer list can be viewed here.
Gibbs & Bruns’ was ranked in the highest tier in a shortlist of just four firms for Energy Litigation. Robin Gibbs, Grant Harvey and Barrett Reasoner are featured in the editorial. Robin Gibbs is also ranked a Leading Lawyer for Energy Litigation in this year’s directory.
Gibbs & Bruns LLP maintains its status as one of the nation’s leading energy litigation practices. A boutique which has focused solely on litigation for decades, it is widely acknowledged as a very strong player in the field, and is able to draw on the expertise of a significant talent pool. Founding partner Robin Gibbs has spent 30 years at the helm, and in 2013 acted in D Bobbitt Noel Jr v Devon Energy Holdings, which saw a successful $196m judgment against Devon Energy for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Gibbs also led on a case for the Vantage Drilling Company, also involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty and fraud; the suit alleges that a former Vantage director defrauded the company through a series of major transactions aimed at his own enrichment. Among the firm’s 30 trial lawyers, Barrett Reasoner is noted for natural gas disputes, and recently acted for Kinder Morgan in claims brought by the unit holders of Copano Energy. Grant Harvey is also a leading name, and led on a title dispute for Matrix Petroleum, Talisman Energy USA and Statoil USA, relating to oil and gas property in the Eagle Ford shale formation in southern Texas; the three are assignees of over 7,000 acres of valuable land in the area. Both Reasoner and Harvey are based in Houston.
The Energy Litigation rankings and editorial can be viewed here.
Gibbs & Bruns is also recognized in Securities – Shareholder Litigation in this year’s directory, with the editorial highlighting Kathy Patrick, Robert (Bob) Madden, and Scott Humphries.
Described as ‘a barrister-type practice with real trial lawyers’, Gibbs & Bruns LLPin Houston is ‘top of its class for complicated mortgage-backed securities matters, for which it is pre-eminent’. Kathy Patrick, who often represents institutional investors as defendants or as plaintiffs filing independent claims, is ‘one of the best in the business, knows the law thoroughly, is practical in her advice and skilled in negotiation’. Patrick, Scott Humphries and Robert Madden are involved in final hearings to confirm the $8.5bn settlement from Bank of America for 22 institutional investor clients including PIMCO and BlackRock in connection with securitization pools and mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide. Patrick has also been leading the team that filed an $800m claim on behalf of Fannie Mae against nine major banks for alleged manipulation of LIBOR.
The Securities – Shareholder Litigation rankings and editorial can be viewed here.
