John Samuel Gibson

Partner

Remarkably skillful trial lawyer, trusted advisor and excellent litigator.

— Clients quoted in Thomson Reuters’ Stand-out Lawyers

Emailjohn.gibson@us.dlapiper.com

About

Areas of FocusHealthcare Life Sciences Media Sports 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

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

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

Memberships And Affiliations