Gibson Dunn

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With more than 2,000 attorneys across 10 countries, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is a force. Among the top firms in the country, Gibson Dunn is well-known for its litigation and trial work—especially its bustling appellate litigation and securities litigation practices—as well as its top-notch antitrust, M&A, business restructuring and reorganization, white collar, transnational, private equity, tax, and real estate work.

Tinseltown and Beyond

Gibson Dunn was formed through a partnership between John Bicknell and Walter Trask in 1890. Seven years later, Judge James Gibson joined the firm. The trio joined forces with William Dunn, a former Los Angeles city attorney, and Albert Crutcher, a former assistant city attorney, to create the largest law firm in Los Angeles at the time. During the 20th century, the firm expanded to the East Coast, Europe, and Asia, and while it still has five offices in California, Gibson is truly a global firm with 21 offices around the world.

Litigation Hat Trick—Plus One

Gibson Dunn is perhaps best known for its litigation practice. In fact, the firm has been named four times as the Litigation Department of the Year by The American Lawyer, in 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020, and was a finalist in this biennial competition in 2014, 2018, and 2022. The firm sits comfortably atop its perch as a top five firm for litigation in Vault’s rankings. Gibson Dunn’s litigation subpractices are vast and include antitrust; betting and gaming; False Claim Act/qui tam; intellectual property; Foreign Corruption Practices Act; environmental law; government contracts; labor and employment; securities litigation; and white collar defense and investigations.

Notably, one practice sets Gibson Dunn apart: appellate litigation. The firm was the long-term reigning No. 1 firm in Vault’s Appellate Litigation rankings and continues to sit near the top of these rankings. Some of the firm’s notable U.S. Supreme Court cases are Perry v. Brown, in which firm partner Ted Olson delivered arguments in favor of overturning Proposition 8; Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to engage in political speech; and Wal-Mart v. Dukes, in which the Supreme Court, in what many consider to be the most important class action opinion in a decade, unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit’s certification of the biggest employment discrimination case in history.

Gibson Dunn isn’t only about litigation, however. The firm is among the top 20 firms in Vault’s General Corporate Practice rankings. In recent years, Gibson lawyers advised MetroPCS, T-Mobile, and Citigroup on billion-dollar mergers. The firm’s corporate transactions practice encompasses several practice groups, including capital markets, global finance, M&A, private equity, and securities regulation and corporate governance. The firm also consistently ranks highly for its real estate and other practices, reaching a No. 1 Vault ranking nationwide for Real Estate.

• Won historic marriage equality victory before SCOTUS, whose Hollingsworth v. Perry decision left intact the district court’s broad injunction against the enforcement of California’s Proposition 8. 
• Represented Related Companies, the developer of iconic Hudson Yards in NYC, in its $630 million acquisition and proposed redevelopment of 625 Madison Avenue spanning the entire city block from 58th to 59th street on Madison Avenue, where it will develop a 1,200-foot skyscraper with Manhattan’s most luxurious residential apartments, a five-star branded hotel, and ground floor Madison Ave retail space.
• Obtained the first national injunction protecting all DACA recipients and six individual Dreamers against the Trump Administration’s termination of the DACA program. Then, in consolidated appeals, successfully defended DACA before SCOTUS, which held that the termination was unlawful.
• For two consecutive years, Gibson Dunn worked on the largest M&A deal of the year. In 2024, the firm advised Pioneer Natural Resources on its $60 billion sale to Exxon Mobil Corp, and in 2023, it advised VMware on its $69 billion acquisition by Broadcom of all outstanding shares of VMware.

• Firm of the Year, 10 Practice Groups of the Year (Appellate, Employment, White Collar, Environmental, Cybersecurity & Privacy, Real Estate, International Arbitration, Trials, Securities, and Competition), 2025—Law360
• A-List, 2025 (Ranked No. 5); Litigation Department of the Year, 2023; Texas Litigation Department of the Year, 2023—The American Lawyer
• 362 Rankings in Chambers USA, including 36 first-tier firm practice group rankings and 76 first-tier individual lawyer rankings; 104 firm practice rankings and 244 individual rankings in Chambers Global; top-tier rankings in Antitrust, Appellate, Corporate Investigations (the Elite), FCA, FCPA, Law Firm Defense, Outsourcing, Privacy & Data Security, Projects: PPP, Real Estate, and Securities (regulation and litigation), and many more regional rankings, 2024—Chambers
• Named as a 2025 Fearsome Foursome and Litigation Powerhouse—BTI Consulting
• Named Lead Counsel in Restructuring Advisory Mandates for North America, 2023, 2024—Debtwire