John Samuel Gibson

Partner

Co-Chair, US Business & Commercial Litigation

Remarkably skillful trial lawyer, trusted advisor and excellent litigator.

Clients quoted in Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers

Emailjohn.gibson@us.dlapiper.com

Call+1 310 595 3039

Los Angeles

About

John Samuel Gibson, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, is a highly successful trial lawyer and litigator. He represents some of the world’s top companies, professional sports teams, and celebrities, as well as a variety of pro bono clients. He has led clients to company-saving trial victories and resolutions, including affirmative litigation jury verdicts, in multiple industries. His cases involve contracts, AI, technology, and competition, and include business and consumer class actions and multi-district litigation. John has also figured prominently in litigation over new technology platforms and ecosystems and is chair of the United Nations' AI for Good law track. He co-chairs AKD Partners's Chambers-ranked "Band 1" business & commercial litigation practice.

His success as a leader and trial lawyer, his multifaceted legal experience at the intersection of law and technology, and his commitment to justice make John Samuel Gibson an invaluable asset and distinguished authority sought after in high-stakes trial and litigation engagements.

Areas of FocusHealthcare Life Sciences Media, Sport and Entertainment Technology Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations

Bar admissionsCalifornia

EXPERIENCE

Life Sciences & Healthcare

Won company-saving trial victory in international arbitration for branded-pharmaceutical company before unanimous tribunal of retired judges in New York. Achieved critical savings for the client by having long-term patent license and product supply agreements declared unenforceable. Publication of the trial victory caused the client's stock price to rise by more than 50% in before-hours trading
Won summary judgment for industry-leading distributor of medical and surgical supplies in federal antitrust litigation over pricing policies brought by competitor and nationwide putative classes of customers (hospitals)
Successfully represented top healthcare company in federal antitrust litigation over competitive business practices brought by competitor
Successfully represented health insurers in multi-district and class action litigation involving pharmaceutical pricing issues and competition by generics
Successfully represented top healthcare providers in multiple contract litigation matters
“Red Team” trial and argument preparation work for leading life sciences, medical device, and technology companies involving commercial, patent infringement, and antitrust issues
In a case covered by ABC News Television, won the nation's first mandatory injunction in federal court requiring a school district to accommodate the service dog of a student with autism

AI, Technology & IP

Argued and won (in part) motion to dismiss billion-dollar multi-district litigation involving putative state and nationwide consumer class actions over algorithms alleged to conduct unfair competition and illegal online gambling
Successfully argued motion for centralization/transfer of multiple putative consumer class actions around the nation to N.D. Cal. for top Silicon Valley technology company
Won summary judgment for leading technology company, defeating an unfair competition law claim in a precedent-setting antitrust and contract litigation to determine fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms for a worldwide portfolio of standard-essential mobile-telecommunications patents. Also, helped the client win a trial verdict determining that the company did not breach its FRAND licensing obligations
Won motion to dismiss with prejudice for a leading mobile-device maker in federal antitrust litigation over company's role in technical standard-setting for 4G-LTE mobile technology—thus defeating a threatened injunction against launch of the company's 4G devices
Represented a top Web-browser maker in IP and standard-setting issues regarding the next-generation hypertext markup language (HTML) for the World Wide Web
Represented leading technology companies in patent infringement litigation involving cellular and WiFi technologies

Commercial

Won jury trial in downtown Los Angeles on behalf of large conglomerate against the client's former head of sales and related individuals for leading a secret fraudulent kickback scheme with some of the client's suppliers and customers. The jury returned a verdict in the client's favor on all causes of action and awarded it punitive damages, resulting in a judgment that includes treble damages and attorneys' fees. This was one of the top 100 jury verdicts in California during 2022.
Represented more than 50 Fortune 500 companies suing major credit card issuers in multi-district antitrust litigation over credit and debit card interchange fees charged to major merchants
Eliminated 95 percent of the largest antitrust jury verdict in the US by taking over a case, after trial, involving online advertising in the mortgage lending industry
Defeated $2 billion in federal antitrust claims before trial for a Fortune 10 company in multiple cases brought by a putative class of the company's thousands of domestic distributors and retailers
Won judgment NOV, eliminating a $10 million jury verdict in a commercial real estate case by taking over the matter after trial
Won a high-profile trial defending the country's second-largest school district against a $26 million claim for damages regarding development of an historic site in Los Angeles
Turned the tables for a top company in Asia by taking over declaratory relief litigation that another firm had lost for the company; prevented the plaintiff from using collateral estoppel against the company in a second action for $30 million in damages
Won summary judgment for a major airline in defending against the general contractor's construction delay and fraud claims in federal court. The lawsuit involved a $40 million project at a major international airport.
Defeated a significant lease pass-through liability for a major bank that was the anchor tenant in a downtown office building affected by an assessment for commercial asbestos-abatement and fire-sprinkler retrofit work. Also recovered attorney's fees and costs for the client in the highly-publicized arbitration proceeding.

Sports

Served as lead trial counsel for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball franchise in historic litigation against the former owner, whose allegedly racist remarks published by TMZ caused the NBA to ban him from managing the team. Winning the “trial of the decade” helped rescue the team by enabling a widely-acclaimed sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The crisis management and resolution also avoided a potential walkout of the NBA's star players.
Led investigations relating to college sports scandals.

Mass Torts

John's tort litigation experience began when he was the senior law clerk to the chief judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. His judge presided over all of the asbestos litigation then pending in the district. John helped the judge review the Sumner Simpson papers in camera and write several seminal opinions on theories of product liability, causation and damages at the summary judgment, directed verdict and post-trial stages.
In practice, John has successfully defended litigation against manufacturers in the medical device, medical supplies, and metals industries as well as RCRA, CERLA and private tort litigation against owners of superfund sites.

Awards

Education

J.D., University of Michigan Law School
Associate and Contributing Editor, Michigan Law Review

A.B., Harvard College
John Harvard Scholar, top 5% of undergraduate students

Recent Publications

"Antitrust Law in the AI Age; Navigating the New Frontier," Daily Journal, November 2023

Recent Presentations and Seminars

Media Mentions

"Apple, Google, Meta Seek Immunity In Gambling App MDL," Law360, August 4, 2022
"Edelson Nabs Interim Lead In Tech Giant Gambling App MDL," Law360, September 23, 2021
"Google, Apple and Facebook Object to 'Frankenstein' Case Over Casino Apps," TheRecorder, August 10, 2021
"2018 Most Influential Black Lawyers," Savoy Magazine, June 2018
"Big Suits," The American Lawyer, April 2016
"US Judge Unseals Order Dismissing Suture Express Medical Product Tying Suit," PaRR, April 2016
"$200M Suture Antitrust Suit Nixed for Lack of Market Power," Law360, April 2016
"Suture Express Tying Claims Against Rivals Rejected," Bloomberg BNA, April 2016
"California's Antitrust Bar," Global Competition Review, March 2015
"Health Cos. Want Antitrust Cases Consolidated In Kan.," Law360, July 2013
"Cypress Family Fights for Autism Service Dogs in Schools," ABC-7, Los Angeles, June 2011

Civic and Charitable

Serves on Board of Visitors of University of California, Irvine School of Law
Serves on Board of Directors of Western Center on Law and Poverty
Served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Constitutional Rights Foundation
Served on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Bar Association
Volunteered as a youth basketball coach