Gibbs & Bruns LLP was named a Top Litigation Firm by Benchmark Litigation for the 11th consecutive year. Since its launch, Benchmark Litigation has highlighted Gibbs & Bruns and its trial lawyers in its annual directory, the sole directory in the legal market focused exclusively on litigation firms and lawyers.
Benchmark ranks Gibbs & Bruns in the “Highly Recommended” category for Texas, the directory’s highest ranking, and on its shortlist of the “Top 10 Plaintiff Firms” in the US.
Robin Gibbs, Kathy Patrick and Barrett Reasoner are all listed on the exclusive “Top Trial Lawyers” and “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” lists.
Twelve Gibbs & Bruns trial lawyers are highlighted in the 2018 directory:
Sam Cruse
Robin Gibbs
Mark Giugliano
Aundrea Gulley
Scott Humphries
Ashley Kleber
Jeffrey Kubin
Robert Madden
Ayesha Najam
Kathy Patrick
Barrett Reasoner
Brian Ross
Editorial Comments
With a bench that is now 15 partners deep, Houston powerhouse Gibbs & Bruns is on the cusp of outgrowing 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 addressing them as a “top-notch firm when it comes to high-stakes commercial and probate litigation. They have excellent lawyers, real trial people, who are extremely well prepared.” 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. This settlement is nearly double an already eye-popping $4.5 billion settlement with JPMorgan that Patrick scored earlier on behalf of 21 institutional investor clients. Patrick’s streak of billion-dollar settlements has continued without interruption.
Most recently, in March 2017, she, along with Scott Humphries, secured a $2.4 billion settlement with Lehman Brothers Holdings on behalf of 14 institutional investors. Just prior to that, in August 2016, the pair also scored a $4.5 billion settlement with JPMorgan on behalf of 21 institutional investors. This team is currently engaged in an ongoing securities fraud action against Petrobras on behalf of institutional investors arising out of the massive “Lava Jato” or (“Car Wash”) bribes-for-contracts scandal that has embroiled Petrobras and scores of Brazilian politicians.
The team of firm figurehead Robin Gibbs and Mark Giugliano represent Enterprise Products Operating in a massive engineering/construction lawsuit concerning a large petrochemical refinery currently under construction in Mont Belvieu, Texas that was hampered by several years of unsatisfactory work and massive cost overruns, estimated in the range of $700 million.
