Firm Profiles

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has had a record run lately. It won unprecedented back–to–back Litigation Department of the Year designations from The American Lawyer in 2010 and 2012 (the contest is biennial). And its profits and revenue continue to climb.

Success, it seems, breeds contentment. Instead of heading for the exits, Gibson associates are purposely avoiding them: They ranked the firm seventh in The American Lawyer’s 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey (it was fourth in 2010). Summer associates are even more gaga for Gibson; their scores placed the firm first in 2011. Pro bono? Yup, that’s stellar, too, with Gibson ranking tenth on our 2011 survey. Little wonder, then, that the firm wound up fourth on The American Lawyer’s 2011 A–List, which hones in on the 20 firms that have best blended diversity, revenue per lawyer, associate satisfaction, and pro bono work.

While Gibson’s practice runs the gamut, its trump card has long been its top–ranking litigation department (which has been a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in every one of The American Lawyer’s Litigation Department of the Year contests). The group contributes nearly 60 percent of the firm’s revenue and has produced a long list of headline–grabbing wins in recent years for clients including Dole Food Company, United Parcel Service, and Wal–Mart Stores, Inc.

Gibson is well–known, too, for its busy appellate practice. Among the department’s stars is Ted Olson, who by the start of 2012 had argued nearly 60 U.S. Supreme Court cases in his career and was responsible for two of the appellate group’s highest–profile recent wins: the successful challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and the invalidation of major portions of the McCain–Feingold campaign finance laws restricting corporate political contributions.

—Updated as of 1/1/12