John Gibson

John Gibson's 34-year career is marked by high-profile victories in California and across the United States, representing a diverse range of clients, including industry-leading companies, professional sports teams, celebrities and pro bono clients advocating for social justice.

Gibson won a motion to dismiss for a leading mobile device maker in federal antitrust litigation. This case centered around the company's role in setting technical standards for 4G-LTE mobile technology. His success in other litigation set a precedent in antitrust law that failure to license standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms does not constitute a restraint of trade.

In facing challenges, Gibson successfully defended against allegations that his client was part of an antitrust conspiracy related to the adoption of a 4G-LTE technical standard. He demonstrated that the standard served a legitimate business purpose and the standards-adoption process had adequate safeguards, overcoming claims that suggested anticompetitive intentions.

"Despite written communications suggesting that the defendants sought adoption of a technical standard that defied interoperability of devices -- the goal of most technical standard-setting -- we won by showing two things," Gibson said. "First, the technical standard served a legitimate business purpose: it avoided interference issues that would have harmed consumers. Second, the standards-adoption process contained meaningful safeguards."

He also served as lead trial counsel for the Los Angeles Clippers in a critical diversity and inclusion-related litigation. This case involved the former team owner whose alleged racist remarks led to an NBA ban. Gibson's victory in this trial was pivotal, enabling the sale of the team to Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and averting a potential walkout by NBA star players.

Gibson also addressed emerging trends in the field, saying, "As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes ubiquitous, human presidents, antitrust enforcers, judges, juries and human-led companies are struggling to answer some fundamental legal questions. Will the same antitrust laws that apply to human conduct apply to AI's conduct? Which companies or humans should properly be held liable for anticompetitive conduct by AI? The data so far suggests that humans and human-led companies will incur antitrust liability when they use or allow AI to do things that would violate the antitrust laws had they been done exclusively by humans."

Beyond his legal practice, Gibson is actively involved in various social and professional initiatives. He chairs the law aspect of the United Nations' AI for Good platform, focusing on preparing AI and the world for each other.

He has also been recognized as "Attorney of the Year" by the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association and is a recipient of the "Outstanding Community Member Award" from the University of California-Irvine Law School's Black Law Students Association. He also volunteers his time as a youth basketball coach.