John Samuel Gibson

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.

The Legal 500 United States

• Recommended, General Commercial Disputes, (2024 – 2025)
• Recommended, Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense, (2021, 2023, 2025)
• Recommended, Antitrust: Cartel, (2023)

Additional Recognitions

• Recognized for winning one of California’s top 100 jury verdicts, (2022)
• Chosen as a Top Antitrust Lawyer, (2021 – 2025)
• Won the Burton Award for being one of the “finest law firm writers,” (2019)
• Rated AV Preeminent® 5.0 out of 5.0 by Martindale-Hubbell®, the top rating, reflecting practice at the highest level of professional excellence
• Listed as one of The Best Lawyers in America® by Best Lawyers®, (2013 – 2022)
• Honored as the “Attorney of the Year” by the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, (2019)
• Selected as one of the National Top 100 Black Lawyers