Legal 500 released its 2024 rankings naming Gibbs & Bruns in four litigation practice areas and highlighting eleven Gibbs & Bruns trial lawyers. In addition, Gibbs & Bruns is honored with a special new “client satisfaction” ranking in a newly-released area of focus for Legal 500.
Gibbs & Bruns continues its Tier 1 recognition in Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas – a ranking the firm has held since 2007 – 18 consecutive years. Gibbs & Bruns is also the only firm in this category to hold a “Client Satisfaction” honor.
Client Satisfaction Scores
Since 2018 we have been asking your clients to score firms based on a number of criteria such as billing, partner responsiveness, communication, overall customer/ business services, it’s the world’s largest legal survey with over 300,000 clients surveyed and 10 questions asked which equates to 15 million data points. The scores are then aggregated to give an overall score. We are now publicising these scores with the launch of the new website.
In addition to Oil & Gas Litigation (Tier 1), Gibbs & Bruns is also ranked in the top tiers for Leading Trial Lawyers (Tier 2), General Commercial Disputes (Tier 3), and Securities Litigation: Plaintiff (Tier 3).
Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 1
Of the 29 national firms recognized in this practice area, Gibbs & Bruns is the only firm with a Client Satisfaction ranking. Gibbs & Bruns is ranked in Tier 1 for Energy Litigation: Oil & Gas, on a shortlist with just three other law firms. This Tier 1 honor has been shared with us by Legal 500 for 18 consecutive years.
Houston-based Gibbs & Bruns LLP offers a boutique litigation practice which consistently handles complex business and commercial litigation in the energy sector, where it represents major energy industry companies on a variety of contentious matters, including oil and gas contract and royalties disputes as well as force majeure disputes. Long-standing experience in high-end commercial litigation matters, founding partner Robin Gibbs commands the practice together with litigation expert Kathy Patrick, noted for her prowess in environmental and energy litigation, and Barrett Reasoner, also well-versed in energy litigation proceedings. Other names to note include force majeure disputes specialist Brian Ross, and oil and gas litigation experts Mark Giugliano and Sam Cruse.
Ranked Lawyers – Hall of Fame
Robin Gibbs
Ranked Lawyers – Leading Lawyers
Brian Ross
Other Key Lawyers
Kathy Patrick
Barrett Reasoner
Mark Giugliano
Sam Cruse
Leading Trial Lawyers
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 2
Robin Gibbs in Houston, who founded litigation boutique Gibbs & Bruns LLP, is well versed in trials, handling an array of commercial disputes in a variety of sectors. In 2023, he was one of the team at the firm who acted as the lead counsel for Trustmark National Bank in a billion-dollar putative class action which settled in May 2023. Gibbs is also active in the energy sector, and oil and gas in particular. Kathy Patrick at Gibbs & Bruns LLP in Houston continues to be involved in ongoing high-profile cases such as a high value alleged damages case in an antitrust matter against Visa and Mastercard as well as being ongoing counsel for Occidental in which a court ordered a supplemental summary judgment in June 2023. Patrick regularly represents Occidental in high profile matters, an indication of her ability to represent large corporates. Patrick’s workload, though, displays a wide range of cases, which include large environmental harm cases and securities litigation.
Ranked Lawyers – Hall of Fame
Robin Gibbs
Kathy Patrick
Ranked Lawyers – Leading Lawyers
Barrett Reasoner
General Commercial Disputes
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 3
Out of 71 national firms recognized in General Commercial Disputes, Gibbs & Bruns and only one other boutique are recognized for Client Satisfaction scores.
Litigation boutique Gibbs & Bruns LLP handles both plaintiff and defense-side work across the banking, energy, technology, and financial services sectors, among others. Three attorneys jointly head up the practice out of Houston: Founding partner and experienced trial lawyer Robin Gibbs is well-versed in the full gamut of commercial disputes, including contract, energy, oil and gas, antitrust and trade secret issues, among many others. Fellow co-chairs Kathy Patrick and Barrett Reasoner are also important points of contact for high-end commercial disputes and energy litigation, respectively.
Ranked Lawyers
Robin Gibbs
Kathy Patrick
Barrett Reasoner
Mark Giugliano
Andi Gulley
Sam Cruse
Brian Ross
Mike Absmeier
Ayesha Najam
David Sheeren
Jorge M. Gutierrez Jr.
Securities Litigation: Plaintiff
Gibbs & Bruns – Tier 3
Of the 19 national firms recognized in Securities Litigation: Plaintiff, Gibbs & Bruns and only one other boutique are recognized for Client Satisfaction scores.
Gibbs & Bruns LLP in Houston continues to handle cases related to mortgage-backed securities (MBS), the area in which it made its presence felt in the securities litigation market. Key partner David Sheeren recently won significant victories for PIMCO in cases concerning the calculation of termination prices owed in “clean-up calls” for legacy RMBS trusts, with more than $100m at stake. Also on behalf of PIMCO, Sheeren also secured a $242m settlement of RMBS claims with First Franklin and Bank of America. Standout partner Kathy Patrick, who has a stellar track record in high-stakes matters, secured $40m for key client Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in breach of contract litigation against Wells Fargo concerning the sale of Occidental shares. Partner Sam Cruse remains a prominent advisor to clients in the financial services and energy sectors. Cruse worked closely with Patrick on the $800m Libor suit against nine banks on behalf of Fannie Mae arising from alleged manipulation of bank borrowing rates.
Ranked Lawyers – Hall of Fame
Kathy Patrick
Ranked Lawyers – Leading Lawyers
David Sheeren
Ranked Lawyers
Sam Cruse
About Legal 500
For 33 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world, with a comprehensive research programme revised and updated every year to bring the most up-to-date vision of the global legal market. The Legal 500 assesses the strengths of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions, the results of which can be viewed free of charge using the “Rankings” tab at the top of the page.
The rankings are based on a series of criteria, but simply put, we highlight the practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. Our research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market.
