Partner Vivek Mohan and Chief Legal Operations Officer Meredith Williams-Range are among the co-authors of Law360 Pulse’s [PDF] “Law Firm AI Rollouts Depend on Buy-In, Not Bigger Budgets,” which references a Chambers and Partners report that surveyed 4,853 associates across 64 top U.S. firms on their experience using AI in day-to-day work.
They noted that while there is “a degree of broad, market-level skepticism toward AI across the general associate population,” the survey “also revealed that some firms’ approach to AI integration can serve as a blueprint for what works when it comes to successful use of AI and how firms can ensure that lawyers at all levels can confidently use the new technology.”
Gibson Dunn is the only firm ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA for our AI practice while also being in the Chambers top 10 for AI innovation and adoption.
Partner Trey Cox was interviewed for the Law360 [PDF] article “AI Speeds Up Litigation Tasks but Not Overall Pace of Cases.” “It still takes a human being to stand in front of a jury or stand in front of a judge, and it still takes judgment to know what the right arguments are and what will be persuasive in your case,” he said. “AI can give you ideas, but ultimately the human being is the one who has to make those decisions.”
Gibson Dunn advised Lone Star on the €1.85 billion sale of Xella, a European leader in sustainable and innovative walling systems headquartered in Germany, to Holcim, the Swiss-listed leader in sustainable construction.
The deal was a collaborative, cross-border effort by Gibson Dunn colleagues in the firm’s London and Frankfurt offices. The transaction was led by partners Mark Sperotto and Dirk Oberbracht, with support from Tom Barker, Andreas Rief, and Vladimir Konchakov. Benjamin Fryer and Sarah Johnson advised on tax aspects. Cassie Aprile and Stephanie Collins advised on the bifurcation of the governing law and dispute resolution mechanism in the sale and purchase agreement.
Read the press release here.
Singapore partner Claude Jiang has been appointed to the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) Energy and Infrastructure Finance Committee. The committee brings together senior figures from leading banks and law firms to develop the energy and infrastructure finance market across Asia.
Gibson Dunn today announced its partnership with LA28 and Team USA in connection with the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The firm will provide legal services to support LA28 as it prepares to host the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, marking the return of the summer edition of the Olympic Games to the United States for the first time in more than three decades.
Founded in Los Angeles more than 135 years ago, Gibson Dunn has long played a leading role in the city’s civic, business, and cultural life. The partnership reflects the firm’s enduring commitment to Los Angeles and its support for initiatives that strengthen the region and elevate its global profile.
“We are proud to partner with LA28 and Team USA in support of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Barbara Becker, Chair and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. “Serving Los Angeles and its communities has been part of Gibson Dunn since our founding here, and this is a special moment to see that commitment extend to a Games that will welcome the world—and benefit the city and the people who call it home.”
The partnership also builds on Gibson Dunn’s longstanding experience advising clients across the sports industry. The firm’s multidisciplinary Sports Industry Group represents teams, venues, athletic associations, sponsors, broadcasters, financial institutions, municipalities, and other stakeholders on complex transactional, regulatory, governance, litigation, intellectual property, labor and employment, and commercial matters.
“Preparing for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games requires sophisticated advice across a wide range of legal disciplines, and Gibson Dunn is uniquely positioned to bring together lawyers from across the firm to help LA28 meet that challenge,” said Candice Choh and Kahn Scolnick, Co-Partners in Charge of Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles and Century City offices. “We look forward to drawing on the full depth of our practice to help deliver a Games that Los Angeles will be proud to host.”
“We are pleased to welcome Gibson Dunn as an Official Provider of the LA28 Games,” said Elisabeth Frienberg, Chief Legal Officer of LA28. “The firm’s deep Los Angeles roots, industry reach, and multidisciplinary capabilities make it uniquely qualified to support the complex legal needs of an event of this scale.”
The partnership also reflects Gibson Dunn’s broader commitment to public service. Through its pro bono practice and support for civic initiatives, the firm has helped advance causes across Southern California, and it is proud to back a Games expected to deliver a lasting economic and civic legacy for the region.
ABOUT THE LA28 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
LA28 will bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles in 2028, uniting more than 15,000 of the world’s greatest athletes in a celebration of sport, culture and human potential. Set against a diverse collection of venues only Southern California can deliver, from the Pacific Ocean to Hollywood stages to world-class arenas, Los Angeles will become the third city ever to host three Olympic Games, following 1932 and 1984, and will also host its first ever Paralympic Games. The LA28 Games will celebrate historic milestones including becoming the first Olympic Games in history to allocate more quota spots to women athletes than men, the debut of new Olympic and Paralympic sports and becoming the first Games since 1948 to not build any new permanent infrastructure. Operating as an independently funded, non-profit organization, LA28 has built a strong foundation of successful commercial partnerships alongside licensing, hospitality and ticketing with the support of the International Olympic Committee.
ABOUT TEAM USA
Team USA is the world’s largest and most diverse team of athletes from across the United States who compete at the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, founded in 1894, serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and is responsible for protecting, supporting and empowering Team USA athletes. For more information, visit TeamUSA.com.
Partners Shukie Grossman and Blake Estes and associate Emma Khairallah discuss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s most significant proposed overhaul of the registered offering framework since 2005 in their Lexology article “Federal Preemption and the Potential End of the Blue Sky Gauntlet: How the SEC’s Offering Reform Could Reshape Offerings of Non-Traded REITs and BDCs.”
The authors explain that the SEC’s reform would largely eliminate state registration and qualification requirements for registered offerings. “The result would be more than a procedural reform,” they note. “It would represent a substantial shift of regulatory authority from state securities regulators to the federal securities regime and could reshape how non-traded investment products are structured, distributed, and brought to market.”
Partner Theane Evangelis was profiled by the Daily Journal [PDF] after being named to its Top Women Lawyers 2026 list. One of the country’s leading litigators, Theane is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s global Litigation Practice Group and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee.
The publication highlighted that the “extensive range of her expertise shows in her membership in the firm’s appellate, class action, labor and employment, media, entertainment, and technology, and crisis management practice groups as well.”
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association has named Gibson Dunn a 2026 Beacon of Justice Award honoree. The awards recognize firms for their exceptional commitment to protecting democracy and civil society through pro bono legal service. Honorees have advanced justice in areas including immigration, freedom of speech, and domestic violence, while working to dismantle systemic barriers that limit access to legal assistance.
Gibson Dunn’s pro bono practice is dedicated to protecting democracy and civil society, both in the U.S. and abroad. Firmwide, we dedicated approximately 241,000 hours of pro bono work to these goals, from pursuing justice for women and girls to defending First Amendment freedoms, and from representing immigrants and the nonprofit organizations that serve them to litigating cases addressing some of the most critical issues of the day.
Gibson Dunn partners Stephanie Brooker, Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice and editor of Lexology In-Depth: International Investigations, and David Ware, a contributing author to the publication, discussed international investigations and the evolving white collar enforcement landscape on The Lexology Podcast. Stephanie and David dove into the latest trends in the international investigations landscape and what they mean for businesses, from the growing scrutiny of corporate control frameworks to complex considerations around voluntary self-disclosure.
The podcast is available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Shout-out to a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher team led by Monica Loseman, Mary Beth Maloney and Jonathan Fortney representing Alcon Research, LLC, in a derivative suit brought by the former CFO and co-founder of Aurion Biotech. Alcon held Series C preferred stock, board rights and consent rights over major corporate actions at Aurion, a life-sciences company developing corneal endothelial cell therapy. Plaintiff David Rostov claimed Aurion wrongfully derailed an IPO potentially valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. But last month, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick sided with Alcon, finding Rostov’s claim relied on the idea that pursuing an IPO was the “best and only path forward” for Aurion. “Delaware law does not permit the court to substitute Plaintiff’s business judgment for that of the Board,” she wrote. The Gibson Dunn team included of counsel Mark Mixon and associates Jacob Arber, Liesel Schapira, Hazel Granada and Swathi Rajan.
To read the complete article visit Law.com (subscription required)
Reprinted with permission from the July 7, 2026 edition of “The AmLaw Litigation Daily” © 2026 ALM Global Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-256-2472 or asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com.
“This was a successful transaction where U.K. retail contributed meaningfully in terms of sums raised,” said partner Chris Haynes of the SpaceX IPO in a Legal Business (subscription required) article.
Chris, along with partner Steve Thierbach, was part of the Gibson Dunn cross-border team that advised SpaceX on the listing.
Chris added: “I think one of the spin-offs of this will be additional interest in IPOs by U.K. retail investors, and hopefully a boost to the equity culture more generally.”
Looking ahead, Steve told Legal Business: “If a retail shareholding culture develops, there’s a real prospect of the London market becoming more attractive to more companies — they tend to see a big, retail shareholder base as more stable.
“There is much more optimism today than there was 12 months ago. I wouldn’t say we expect double the number of IPOs, but a much higher number.”
The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibson Dunn client CIM in a dispute with the family of telecommunications mogul Gary Winnick over the default of a $150 million business loan that relied on several residential properties as collateral. The properties included Casa Encantada, a Los Angeles-area mansion that has set a record twice over its 90-year history as the most expensive residential property in the country.
After Winnick’s death in 2023, the business loan became in default and CIM initiated foreclosure on Casa Encantada for the outstanding debt. The Winnick family filed a series of frivolous claims to stop this foreclosure, including attempting to secure a temporary restraining order. Gibson Dunn was able to defeat these attempts at the trial court, the Court of Appeal, and the California Supreme Court.
Partner James Fogelman served as lead counsel on the matter. The team included partners Dione Garlick, Daniel Adler, and Gabriel Herrmann and associates Zach Freund, Paige Petrashko, and Joseph Charney.
Gibson Dunn represented JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., in connection with a $3.4 billion senior secured facility, consisting of a $2.9 billion term loan facility and a $500 million revolving credit facility, to Trian and General Catalyst related to its acquisition and take-private of Janus Henderson Group. JPMorgan Chase Bank served as lead left arranger and as administrative agent to the credit facilities.
The Gibson Dunn finance team was led by partner Doug Horowitz and included partners Michael Saliba, Dean Masuda and associates Paul Rafla, James Sullivan, Melody Karmana, and Alanah Herfi. Partner David Irvine, of counsel Maurice Stewart, and associate Alethea Barretto advised on U.K. financing aspects. Partner Jennifer Sabin and associate Eytan de Gunzburg advised on tax matters. Partner Elizabeth Romefelt and associate Michael Naclerio advised on acquisition diligence matters.
Partners Jesse Cripps and Katherine V.A. Smith have been named to the Daily Journal’s (subscription required) Top Labor & Employment Lawyers list, which highlights lawyers “specializing in litigation, PAGA matters, unlawful terminations and workplace investigations.”
A Gibson Dunn client alert authored by partners Thomas Kim, Ronald Mueller, Hillary Holmes, Michael Titera, Andrew Fabens, and Thomas Franck, “SEC Proposes Amendments to Permit Optional Semiannual Reporting by Public Companies,” has been published by Wolters Kluwer’s Insights [PDF].
Gibson Dunn topped Bloomberg Law’s Big Law M&A Leaderboard, advising on $501.7 billion in deals in the first half of 2026.
“Our performance reflects the confidence clients placed in us on their most significant transactions,” said Robert Little, global co-chair of the firm’s M&A Practice Group. “The first half showed buyers with conviction moving decisively as strategic imperatives outweighed the caution that had held deals back.”
Gibson Dunn has been honored with TrustLaw’s 2026 International Law Firm of the Year award, which recognizes an international law firm that has demonstrated exceptional effort and enthusiasm in supporting pro bono clients on projects undertaken through TrustLaw.
TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal network, and the largest pro bono legal network in the world. TrustLaw works with leading law firms and corporate legal teams to facilitate free legal support, research, and resources for civil society organizations, social enterprises, and non-profit independent media around the globe,drawing on the expertise of more than 120,000 lawyers in 190 countries.
Click here to read the five tips on building and maintaining an effective pro bono program shared with TrustLaw by Gibson Dunn’s Pro Bono Chair, Katie Marquart.
Gibson Dunn secured a complete Delaware Court of Chancery victory for Alcon Research, LLC, defeating a $700 million derivative suit brought by Aurion Biotech’s former CFO after a hard-fought, four-case battle for control of the company.
The decision is the latest—and most decisive—chapter in a high-stakes fight over Aurion, a life-sciences company developing corneal endothelial cell therapy. Alcon held Series C preferred stock, board rights, and consent rights over major corporate actions. A rival stockholder faction pushed toward an IPO that would have converted Alcon’s preferred shares and stripped those rights. Gibson Dunn first went on offense to protect Alcon’s position. After an independent special committee postponed the IPO, Alcon moved to take control by buying additional stock, reshaping the board, and dissolving the special committee. Aurion’s former CFO then brought a six-count derivative action claiming that Alcon and others had wrongfully derailed an IPO he valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick rejected the attack in full. She dismissed every count at the pleading stage, including fiduciary-duty claims against Alcon, director-defendant claims, a claim attacking a board resignation, a claim challenging the settlement of related litigation, an entire-fairness claim, and a right-of-first-refusal claim.
The plaintiff’s central theory failed on the complaint’s own timeline. The independent special committee had voted to postpone the IPO before Alcon became a controller and before the challenged conduct, and Aurion could not relaunch an IPO until audited financials that were months away. The Court refused to let the plaintiff recast business disagreement as fiduciary misconduct: “Delaware law does not permit the court to substitute Plaintiff’s business judgment for that of the Board.”
The director claims failed for the same reason. Because Aurion had an exculpatory charter provision, the plaintiff had to plead bad faith as to each director. Instead, he relied on group pleading and an ambiguous statement by one director that “we” opposed the IPO. Chancellor McCormick rejected that theory too: “A single plural pronoun, without additional facts, is insufficient to overcome the presumption of good faith.”
The Court also rejected the claim that a director breached his duty of loyalty by resigning from the board, distinguished the extreme circumstances of In re Puda Coal, and dismissed the contract-based ROFR claim under the plain language of the parties’ agreement and the last-antecedent rule.
The result is a clean sweep in one of the most closely watched courts in the country: six counts asserted, six counts dismissed. The ruling gives companies, directors, and strategic investors important Delaware authority on the limits of fiduciary-duty claims attacking control contests, board-designee conduct, alleged IPO interference, director resignations, group pleading against exculpated directors, and preferred-stock transfer rights.
The Gibson Dunn team was led by partners Mary Beth Maloney, Jonathan Fortney, and Monica Loseman and included of counsel Mark Mixon and associates Jacob Arber, Liesel Schapira, Hazel Granada, Swathi Rajan, and John Turquet Bravard. The case is Rostov v. Alcon Research, LLC, C.A. No. 2025-0648-KSJM (Del. Ch.).
Partner Brad Hubbard testified before the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs on SB 2337, the proxy advisory firm disclosure law, on June 23. The hearing was on the question of whether proxy advisors including Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis are complying with SB 2337 when they recommend against reincorporating companies in Texas.
In addition, partner Hillary Holmes provided written testimony.
In his testimony, Brad raised conflict-of-interest concerns regarding proxy firms advising companies while also issuing voting recommendations to shareholders. He also said he has seen inaccuracies in some of the reports.
Houston partner Gregg Costa authored “What Judge Hittner’s 40 Years on the Federal Bench Teaches Us All” for The Texas Lawbook [PDF] on the 40th anniversary of the Honorable David Hittner’s appointment as a trial judge by then-President Ronald Reagan. Gregg describes the attributes that define Judge Hittner, including enthusiasm, humor, judgment, and mentorship.