Legal 500 released its 2025 national rankings naming Gibbs & Bruns in the Top Tier ranking for Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas – a coveted Tier 1 ranking the firm has held since 2007. Gibbs & Bruns is also ranked in top national tiers for Leading Trial Lawyers, General Commercial Disputes, and Securities Litigation: Plaintiff.
In addition, Gibbs & Bruns continues its legacy Legal 500‘s “client satisfaction” ranking – a proprietary ranking system created by Legal 500 based on direct client feedback shared with Legal 500 researchers since 2018.
This firm really tries a lot of cases each year, and that informs their approach to any case in a highly beneficial way. Very few firms have lawyers with this level of trial experience. The lawyers are focused on trial from the beginning, though they are also attuned to dispositive motions to get rid of a case early on. The wisdom, judgment, and experience of the senior lawyers is incredible.
They are always ready to go to trial and your opposition knows this, which makes it an advantage.
All of the lawyers are excellent, but I would single out Barrett Reasoner and Robin Gibbs. Reasoner is the perfect lawyer. He is a great trial lawyer, with great judgment, and great people skills. He is very smart and incredibly knowledgeable; I have complete trust in him. Gibbs is a legend, he is very creative and very tenacious, and he has trained a generation of lawyers. He grabs the heart of the case and pursues it relentlessly.
The Gibbs & Bruns team is the best. They are smart, strategic, and hardworking partners and associates. They offer better lawyers and better value than the large firms when it comes to oil and gas litigation.
Sam Cruse stands out from the pack. He excels at handling high-stakes environmental, royalty, and contract litigation. Opposing counsel respects him and knows that he “means business”.
Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 1
Gibbs & Bruns is ranked in Tier 1 for Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas, on a shortlist with just four other law firms and is the only firm with a Client Satisfaction ranking. This Tier 1 national honor has been shared with us by Legal 500 since the inception of the US version of the directory launched in 2007.
Gibbs & Bruns LLP is a premier boutique firm specializing exclusively in high-stakes business and commercial litigation. The firm’s dual plaintiff and defense experience provides strategic depth, allowing it to handle complex, high-value disputes with a nuanced approach. Recognized for its precedent-setting work, the firm is particularly active in the energy sector, representing clients in major litigation matters. The Houston practice is co-led by Robin Gibbs, a seasoned trial lawyer with 50 years of experience handling significant commercial disputes, particularly in oil and gas. Kathy Patrick is a go-to trial counsel for Occidental Petroleum, known for her work on high-risk, high-value cases. Barrett Reasoner maintains a diverse trial docket, including substantial matters in energy and oil and gas, while Brian Ross brings broad trial experience, representing global energy companies, investors, and private clients. All referenced individuals are based in Houston
Hall of Fame
Robin Gibbs
Leading Lawyers
Brian Ross
Key Lawyers
Kathy Patrick
Barrett Reasoner
Sam Cruse
Mike Absmeier
Ashley Kleber
Leading Trial Lawyers
Only 41 trial lawyers from around the nation are highlighted in the top four tiers of this ranking category, including three Gibbs & Bruns partners:
Robin Gibbs – Tier 2
The ‘creative and tenacious’ Robin Gibbs, founding partner at Gibbs & Bruns LLP in Houston, is sought after by clients for his experience across a range of disputes, including matters in the oil and gas industry, antitrust proceedings and the defense of legal malpractice claims. On the antitrust front, Gibbs is representing Google in its adtech battle with both the federal and multiple state governments, while both Baker Botts L.L.P. and Winston & Strawn LLP have engaged his services in relation to malpractice suits levelled against them by former clients.
Kathy Patrick – Tier 2
Kathy Patrick, partner at Gibbs & Bruns LLP, is engaged in a number of high-profile disputes in Texas and further afield, including the representation of Google in defending the antitrust suit brought against it by the DOJ and eighteen states, alleging its implementation of its adtech systems amount to anti-competitive practices. She also represents a number of national retailers in a long-running suit against Visa and Mastercard, which the retailers accuse of conspiring to fix card payment processing fees. Based in Houston, Patrick is frequently retained by clients in the oil and gas industry, including Occidental Petroleum, in matters ranging from antitrust issues to securities litigation.
Barrett Reasoner – Tier 4
Based in Houston, ‘top-notch lawyer’ Barrett Reasoner of Gibbs & Bruns LLP is sought after by oil and gas sector clients facing a variety of suits, and in 2024 continued to defend Anadarko Petroleum in a suit where plaintiffs allege Anadarko made improper changes to payment methods, having previously secured the denial of class certification in 2022. He is also retained by a number of retailers suing Visa and Mastercard for allegedly charging excessive card processing fees.
Securities Litigation: Plaintiff
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 3
The fantastic Kathy Patrick is a formidable opponent.
Sam Cruse is a great trial lawyer. He has a great courtroom presence. I am glad he is on my side!
Smart, strategic and hardworking partners and associates.
Of the 20 national firms recognized this year, only Gibbs & Bruns and one other boutique are recognized for Client Satisfaction scores.
Resourced by many ‘smart, strategic and hardworking partners and associates’, including a number of highly skilled advocates, Houston-based litigation boutique Gibbs & Bruns LLP’s reputation has been predicated on its ability to try cases in courts throughout the country. David Sheeren represents core client PIMCO in a number of ongoing matters, including against US Bank and trustees for 113 Bear Stearns Legacy RMBS trusts. A ‘formidable opponent’, seasoned trial lawyer Kathy Patrick, who co-heads the team alongside Sheeran, was also central to the firm’s successes against Wall Street, although her industry focus extends beyond the financial services sector to also include energy-related securities litigation.
Hall of Fame
Kathy Patrick
Leading Partners
David Sheeren
Key Lawyers
Sam Cruse
Caitlin Halpern
Pete McDonald
Nick Beachy
General Commercial Disputes
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 3
Litigation boutique Gibbs & Bruns LLP is active in business and commercial litigation, regularly representing both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes disputes. The Houston-based team boasts broad industry expertise, encompassing the banking, energy, tech, and financial services sectors. Robin Gibbs enjoys a strong track record of obtaining successful jury verdicts. Kathy Patrick is a go to for major international clients, including in high-value antitrust disputes, securities litigation and arbitration. Barrett Reasoner’s diverse roster of clients ranges from the energy, construction and environmental industries to the securities, IP and private client sectors. An expert in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) disputes, David Sheeren is regularly called upon by financial-sector clients. Sam Cruse focuses on the energy and financial sectors, while Ayesha Najam specialises in energy, construction, and law partnership disputes and Brice Wilkinson excels in trade secret and antitrust matters.
Key Lawyers
Robin Gibbs
Kathy Patrick
Barrett Reasoner
Mark Giugliano
Andi Gulley
Sam Cruse
Brian Ross
Mike Absmeier
Ayesha Najam
Anthony Kaim
David Sheeren
Brice Wilkinson
Charles Rosson
Ross MacDonald
Denise Drake
Jorge M. Gutierrez Jr.
Gabriel Kaim
Justin Patrick
Caitlin Halpern
Pete McDonald
Nick Beachy
About Legal 500 Rankings
The basis for inclusion
Our team of experienced researchers – which includes both qualified journalists and lawyers – spend several months each year conducting in-depth research into the market. The primary source of our information is the law firms themselves, and the information they provide is often not for public consumption. This allows us to properly assess them against one another, practice area by practice area. We also gather feedback from peers and clients to assess their overall visibility and reputation. The process culminates in detailed rankings and editorial, providing buyers of legal services with an objective analysis of the US market that is updated annually.
Approach
We organise each practice area into a single national ranking, eschewing a state-by-state approach. We look at firms with the capability and reach to handle sophisticated and complex work. This is not a game of numbers – indeed many of the firms included are small, single-office firms – but simply a question of quality.
Emphasis on teams, not individuals
With the notable exception of our leading trial lawyers list, we do not rank individual lawyers by tier. We do highlight certain key individuals within the editorial paragraphs and in our individual rankings, but our principal aim is to provide a snapshot of the market based on our assessment of the overall strength and depth of a practice group.
