Gibson Dunn advised GCL, a global leader in live events and luxury goods specialty logistics, and ATL Partners on GCL’s sale to Providence Equity Partners. Providence is a premier private equity firm with significant experience investing in and supporting the growth of companies in the entertainment and media sectors.

Providence will become the majority shareholder of GCL, while ATL Partners, the current majority owner, will retain a minority equity stake in GCL.

Led by partner Alexander Fine, our corporate team included partner Maxwell Ball and associates Jonathan Abrams and Kristen Lee. Partner Aaron Adams and of counsel Jason Durschlag advised on financing; partner Matt Donnelly and associate Eva Gao on tax; partner Michael Collins on benefits; partner Meghan Hungate on IP; partners Joshua Lipton and Attila Borsos and associates Alexander Merritt and Stuart Houston on antitrust aspects; partner Christopher Timura on trade; and partner Michael Murphy on environmental aspects.

Gibson Dunn represented AT&T in its $5.75 billion acquisition of substantially all of Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber business, which today totals about 1 million fiber customers and reaches more than 4 million fiber locations across 11 U.S. states.

Led by partner Robert Little, the Gibson Dunn corporate team included partner Joe Orien and associates William Altabef, Joshua Paul Barringer, Marie Baldwin, and Riley Gesling. Partner Pamela Lawrence Endreny and associates Duncan Hamilton and Eva Gao advised on tax; partner Krista Hanvey and associate Ashley Romanias on benefits; partner Daniel Angel and associates Jacqueline Malzone and Yaz Kaveh on IP; partner Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter and associates Jennifer Grecco and Ruby Lang on data privacy; and partner Michael Murphy on environmental aspects.

Gibson Dunn represented the underwriters in United Parcel Service’s (UPS) $4 billion offering of senior notes, comprising: $500 million 4.650% senior notes due 2030; $1.25 billion 5.250% senior notes due 2035; $1.25 billion 5.950% senior notes due 2055; and $1 billion 6.050% Senior Notes due 2065. Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs, SG Americas Securities, and Wells Fargo Securities acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

Gibson Dunn also advised the underwriters on UPS’s $170,673,000 offering of floating rate senior notes due 2075. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Securities acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

Our team was led by partners Andrew Fabens and Robert Giannattasio and included associates Nneka Chukwumah, Kevin Mills, and Mackenzie Alpert. Partner Jennifer Sabin advised on tax.

A team of Gibson Dunn litigators notched an important win in the first-ever case against an artificial intelligence developer by a plaintiff claiming that he had been defamed by “hallucinated,” or factually inaccurate, generative AI output.

In Walters v. OpenAI, the plaintiff, Mark Walters, a prominent Second Amendment-rights advocate, radio host, and commentator, sued our client OpenAI in state court in Gwinnett County, Georgia, alleging he was defamed when ChatGPT incorrectly said that Walters had been sued over allegations of embezzlement.

While the case was the first of its kind and involved a new, complex technology, Gibson Dunn successfully grounded the dispute in basic principles of tort and defamation law. Our team demonstrated that the plaintiff objectively could not establish “defamatory meaning” because OpenAI meticulously warns users of the risks of hallucination and because the context of the particular user’s interaction with ChatGPT was rife with red flags to any reasonable user that the tool was not providing factual information. Our team also showed that the plaintiff could not prove any level of fault, as Georgia law and the U.S. Constitution require for defamation claims: not “actual malice” because he had no evidence that OpenAI knew or recklessly disregarded the risk the user would receive false output, and not even negligence because OpenAI leads the industry in efforts to reduce the risks of hallucinations and goes to great effort to warn users that hallucinations can occur anyway. Finally, we successfully demonstrated that under the facts and under Georgia and federal constitutional law the plaintiff could not recover any damages. On May 19, 2025, Judge Tracie Cason granted summary judgment in favor of OpenAI in full, adopting all our arguments. The decision will help guide future litigation involving similar claims arising from generative AI output.

Our winning team was led by partners Theodore J. Boutrous (who successfully argued the summary judgment motion), Orin Snyder, and Connor S. Sullivan and included associates Zachary C. Freund, Chase Weidner, Doran J. Satanove, and Cate Harding.

Gibson Dunn represented the initial purchasers on a private offering by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited of $900 million of senior notes.

The initial purchasers were led by BofA Securities, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Mizuho Securities USA LLC, who acted as joint book-running managers.

The notes offered consisted of $500 million aggregate principal amount of Fairfax’s 5.750% senior notes due 2035, and $400 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.500% senior notes due 2055.

Our team was led by partner Andrew Fabens and of counsel Rodrigo Surcan and included associates Malakeh Hijazi and Chad Kang. Partner Jennifer Sabin advised on tax.

Gibson Dunn represented the underwriters in a public offering by Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL) of $600 million aggregate principal amount of IPL’s 5.600% senior debentures due 2035.

The underwriters were led by BofA Securities, Inc., Mizuho Securities USA LLC, MUFG Securities Americas Inc., and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC. IPL is a public utility company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation.

Our team was led by partner Andrew Fabens and of counsel Rodrigo Surcan, and included associates Lawrence Lee, Ian Mathenge, and Stephen Huie. Partner William Hollaway and senior counsel Janine Durand advised on regulatory aspects; partner Rachel Levick and associate Taylor Amato advised on environmental aspects; and partner Lorna Wilson advised on tax.

Gibson Dunn represented the initial purchasers in Alliant Energy Corporation’s (AEC) private offering of $575 million aggregate principal amount of 3.250% convertible senior notes due 2028.

AEC is a public utility holding company that provides regulated electric and natural gas service to customers in the Midwest. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as lead joint book-running managers for the offering.

Our team was led by partners Andrew Fabens and Stewart McDowell and of counsel Rodrigo Surcan, and included associates Lawrence Lee, Ian Mathenge, and Stephen Huie.

Partner William R. Hollaway and senior counsel Janine Durand advised on regulatory aspects; partner Rachel Levick and associate Taylor Amato advised on environmental aspects; and partner Lorna Wilson advised on tax.

Gibson Dunn represented the Strategic Capital Initiative established by FTAI Aviation Ltd. in respect of a $2.5 billion asset-level debt financing led by Atlas SP Partners and Deutsche Bank that will be used to finance on-lease commercial aircraft.

Our team included partners Madalyn Miller and Pamela Lawrence Endreny and associates Rebecca West, Melissa Kopit, Tom Caruso, Alexandra Davidson, and Axel Sarkissian.

On May 14^th, the Tenth Circuit heard oral argument in a civil rights appeal arising from the death of Terence Crutcher, who was unarmed and had his hands raised when he was shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer in 2016. Gibson Dunn, with co-counsel SolomonSimmonsLaw, represents Mr. Crutcher’s Estate for purposes of the appeal.

On behalf of Mr. Crutcher’s Estate, New York partner Karin Portlock argued before the Tenth Circuit that Officer Shelby violated Mr. Crutcher’s constitutional right to be free from deadly force.  Ms. Portlock emphasized that the video of the shooting clearly shows that Mr. Crutcher was shot with his hands up, violating forty years of precedent forbidding officers from using deadly force against an unarmed person, like Mr. Crutcher, who posed no threat.

Ms. Portlock also argued that the Estate is entitled to discovery into widespread, unconstitutional police practices within the Tulsa Police Department.  She highlighted for the Court that the officer justified her decision to shoot Mr. Crutcher on the basis of police training she received and that the City of Tulsa was on notice of systemic issues within the Tulsa Police Department that encouraged officers to use excessive force.

The Estate is asking the appellate court to reverse the district court’s decisions and allow the case to proceed to trial.

Following the argument, Ms. Portlock said: “Terence Crutcher’s killing was gravely unconstitutional. We are honored to represent the Crutcher family in this fight, and trust the Tenth Circuit will remand this case for a trial so that justice can be served.”

Co-counsel, Damario Solomon-Simmons, commented: “Qualified immunity was never meant to grant officers a license to shoot first and answer never, nor to shield a police department whose own training primed that deadly decision. We asked the Tenth Circuit to send this case to trial so an Oklahoma jury—not legal technicalities—can decide what Terence’s family already knows: Terence’s life mattered, his killing was unjustified, and Betty Shelby and the City of Tulsa must be held accountable.”

The Crutcher family said: “We relive the pain of Terence’s death every day, but we’ve never stopped fighting for truth and accountability. This appeal matters—not just for our family, but for every family who’s been told their loved one’s life didn’t matter. We’re thankful to our legal team and to all those who continue to stand with us.”

Public access to the argument recording is available here. (https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/oralarguments/24-5058.mp3).

The Gibson Dunn team is led by New York partners Karin Portlock and Lee Crain and includes New York associates Aiyanna Isom, Julia Ross, and Mary Otoo, and former associate Claire Madill. 

Case Background

On September 16, 2016, Officer Betty Shelby approached Mr. Crutcher as he was walking down the street and then violently escalated the encounter to deadly force within minutes. Mr. Crutcher’s killing is captured on video—which was released shortly after his death following public outrage. The video shows that at the time he was killed, Mr. Crutcher’s hands were raised, he had no weapon, and he was not under arrest. The Tulsa County District Attorney charged the officer with first-degree manslaughter, but she was acquitted after trial in May 2017. Mr. Crutcher’s Estate brought a civil rights lawsuit against the officer and the City of Tulsa in June 2017, but the lower court granted the officer qualified immunity and dismissed the Estate’s claims against the City for unconstitutional police practices. Those rulings are now on appeal.

Gibson Dunn has advised Frontera Pipeline Investment AG, a subsidiary of Frontera Energy Corporation, on a $220 million debt refinancing and recapitalization transaction, pursuant to first and second lien senior secured credit facilities arranged by Macquarie Bank Limited.

Frontera Energy Corporation is a Canadian public company headquartered in Bogota, Colombia, involved in the exploration, development, production, transportation, storage, and sale of oil and natural gas in South America.

The Gibson Dunn team was led by partner Toren Murphy.

Gibson Dunn advised Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Advisors, a subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital Inc., a New York Stock Exchange-listed global alternative asset manager (NYSE: OWL), on the formation of Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Fund III, a fund focused on data centers and other technology and connectivity-related real assets. The fund closed at its hard cap of $7 billion of aggregate capital commitments. 

Our investment funds team was led by Shukie Grossman, Global Chair of our Investment Funds Practice Group, and included partner Kira Idoko, of counsel Robert Harrington, and associates Alex Chang, Kevin Chapman, Rachel Spinka, and Jeff Xu. Partner Brian Kniesly and associates Jennifer Fitzgerald and Duncan Hamilton advised on tax aspects, and partner Michael Collins advised on benefits. 

Gibson Dunn is advising North Hudson Resource Partners LP on the acquisition of producing assets from White Rock Energy, LLC in the Elm Coulee field in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, in partnership with TXO Partners, L.P.

The Gibson Dunn team is led by partners Rahul Vashi and Adam Whitehouse and includes associate Joseph Kmetz. Senior counsel Greg Nelson is advising on tax matters.

With State Attorneys General becoming an increasingly active source of enterprise-threatening investigations and litigation, Gibson Dunn is bringing together its unique blend of Attorney General experience and subject matter expertise to launch a specialized State Attorneys General Task Force. This Task Force will assist clients in navigating the unique challenges these matters pose that are impacting every major U.S. industry.

“State Attorneys General are increasingly taking a more expansive, sophisticated, and comprehensive approach to pursuing investigations and litigation, at times, leveraging the expertise of private plaintiffs’ counsel,” said Mylan Denerstein, former Executive Deputy Attorney General in the New York Attorney General’s Office and Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Policy Practice Group and a member of the Task Force.

“Our multidisciplinary team includes members who have held senior roles in State Attorneys General offices, as well as many former prosecutors with vast experience handling government investigations, and we are well-poised to assist our clients in all aspects of these matters,” added Nick Hanna, a Task Force member who Co-Chairs the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group.

The Task Force will leverage the firm’s premier investigations practice and subject matter expertise in areas including consumer protection; data privacy; employment; antitrust and unfair competition; artificial intelligence; diversity, equity and inclusion; environmental, social and governance; products liability; state false claims acts and government contracting; and securities.

“Businesses are facing an increasingly complex landscape of state-level scrutiny, and our Task Force is designed to provide a cohesive and strategic approach to addressing the evolving landscape of AG enforcement,” said Debra Wong Yang, Co-Chair of the firm’s Crisis Management Practice Group and a member of the Task Force.

Christopher Chorba, Co-Chair of the firm’s Class Actions Practice Group and a member of the Task Force, commented: “Our team has handled State Attorneys General cases across the country, providing us with a deep understanding of the various state investigatory and litigation cycles of these multifaceted and high-stakes matters. We will continue supporting our clients in these matters.”

The Task Force will keep clients up to date on the latest developments and significant emerging trends across the states. “In areas like data privacy and online child safety, we are seeing a profound shift of high-stakes enforcement from federal agencies to State Attorneys General offices—for instance, around half of the U.S. will be covered by a state comprehensive privacy law by 2026 while there remains no comprehensive federal legislation,” said Ashley Rogers, Co-Chair of the firm’s Consumer Protection Practice Group and a member of the Task Force. “That shift presents significant challenges for companies that are likely to face increasingly complex and sometimes contradictory demands from state regulators on topics like online content moderation.”

To help keep regulated parties up to speed on these trends, the Task Force will offer a suite of resources, including client alerts on emerging topics of AG enforcement, interactive webinars, and live sessions providing opportunities for direct engagement. In addition to Mylan, Nick, Debra, Christopher, and Ashley, the members of the Task Force are Winston Chan, Gregg Costa, Collin Cox, Trey Cox, Stuart Delery, Mylan Denerstein, Theane Evangelis, Gustav Eyler, Natalie Hausknecht, Allyson Ho, Poonam Kumar, Rachel Levick, Vivek Mohan, Jonathan Phillips, Tina Samanta, Jason Schwartz, Prerak Shah, Katherine Smith, Eric Stock, Eric Vandevelde, Frances Waldmann, and Jim Zelenay. The team includes partners across the firm’s U.S. offices, including California, Colorado, Texas, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Gibson Dunn is pleased to announce that Hayden Cameron has today joined the firm’s London office as a partner in its Real Estate Practice Group. 

The news follows the recent announcement that Mark Manson-Bahr will also join the Real Estate Practice Group as a partner in London.

Commenting on Hayden’s arrival, Eric Feuerstein, Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group, said: “Hayden advises on the most complicated U.K. and European real estate transactions, working with clients in private equity and sovereign wealth funds, especially in the Middle East where he previously worked. Hayden and Mark will bring added firepower to the London real estate team, and the global team looks forward to their arrival.”

Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group is widely considered one of the best in the world: it was named a 2024 Real Estate Group of the Year by Law360 and is the Chambers USA 2024 Group of the Year for Real Estate: USA – Nationwide. In the past year, it has continued to expand with the arrival of partner Mark Manson-Bahr (London) and Krystyna Blakeslee (New York), and the promotion to partner of Sara Ghalandari and Prerna Soni in San Francisco.

About Hayden Cameron

Hayden advises investors, developers, financiers, and owner/occupiers on a range of commercial real estate and infrastructure transactions. His clients include private equity fund managers and Middle East sovereign funds, whom he advises on the establishment of cross-border investment platforms, joint ventures and co-investments in relation to real estate assets and portfolios, and infrastructure investments. He also advises on direct and indirect acquisitions and disposals of real estate assets and portfolios.

He is a Recommended Lawyer in The Legal 500 United Kingdom 2025 for London Commercial Property: Investment, where he is highlighted for his “notable cross-border capabilities.” Hayden earned his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Gibson Dunn served as counsel to LyondellBasell on the pricing of its public offering of $500 million of Guaranteed Notes issued by its LYB International Finance III, LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary.

Our corporate team included partners Hillary Holmes and Cynthia Mabry and associates Alan Williams and Caroline Simms. Partner Jennifer Sabin advised on tax aspects.

Gibson Dunn is advising HighPost Capital, LLC in connection with the sale of a controlling interest to Azimut Group, via its U.S. subsidiary Azimut Alternative Capital Partners LLC.

Founded by David Moross and Mark Bezos, HighPost Capital is a leading private investment firm focused on the consumer sector. Azimut Group is one of Europe’s largest independent asset managers.

The Gibson Dunn team is led by partners Shukie Grossman and Michael Piazza and includes partners Jesse Myers and Adam Whitehouse, of counsel Jason Park, and associates Hunter Michielson, Juliette Rafael, Philip Stachnik and Ashley Whittington.

Partner Michael Cannon and associate Ryan Rott are advising on tax; partner Joshua Lipton, counsel Andrew Cline and associate Alexander Merritt are advising on antitrust; and partner Krista Hanvey and associate John Curran are advising on employee benefits.

Gibson Dunn represented Mondelēz International, Inc. on its SEC-registered offering of $1.6 billion aggregate principal amount of three series of notes. BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Mizuho, and SMBC Nikko acted as joint book-running managers in the notes offering.

 The Gibson Dunn team included partner Andrew Fabens, of counsel Rodrigo Surcan, and associates Lawrence Lee and Kevin Mills. Partner Lorna Wilson advised on tax matters.

Gibson Dunn is advising an ad hoc group of lenders and noteholders on the financial reorganization transaction of WW International, Inc. (WeightWatchers) and certain of its affiliates to eliminate approximately $1.15 billion in debt.

The proposed reorganization is supported by holders of approximately 71% of the company’s outstanding principal term loan facility and 74% of the outstanding senior secured notes. WeightWatchers has voluntarily initiated “pre-packaged” chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. District of Delaware and expects to exit the court-supervised reorganization process within 49 days. It will remain fully operational during that time.

Our Business Restructuring and Reorganization Team is led by partners Scott Greenberg and Jason Zachary Goldstein and includes partner Matthew J. Williams and associates Tommy Scheffer, Josh Michael Berland, Benjamin Spock, Kevin Liang, Adeola Adeyosoye, Lauren Hernandez and Annie Saunders. Partners Frederick T. Lee and Melissa L. Barshop are advising on finance matters. Partner Eric Scarazzo and of counsel Rodrigo Surcan are advising on capital markets. Partner Edward S. Wei and associate Emily Risher Brooks are advising on tax.

Gibson Dunn represented Clearway Energy, Inc. in its acquisition of the 137 MW Tuolumne Wind Project from Turlock Irrigation District.

The Tuolumne Wind Project, located in Washington state, began commercial operation in 2009 and consists of 62 wind turbines. The project will sell power under an amended agreement with Turlock Irrigation District, with an option for a future repowering.

Our team was led by partner Nick Politan and included of counsel Ata Dinlenc and associate Vlad Zinovyev. Partner William Hollaway and senior counsel Janine Durand advised on energy regulatory matters; associate Lauren Traina advised on real estate; and associate Josiah Bethards advised on tax.

Congratulations to the 193 Gibson Dunn members of the D.C. Bar who completed at least 50 hours of pro bono work in 2024 and are therefore included in the 2024 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll. In addition, 128 of our Honor Roll lawyers provided 100+ hours of pro bono service, thereby qualifying for the High Honor Roll.

In a joint letter to the honorees, Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby of the D.C. Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Milton C. Lee, Jr., of the D.C. Superior Court wrote: “Thank you for contributing your time and expertise to expand access to justice for those who cannot afford legal representation. We are exceedingly proud of the robust tradition of pro bono service in our legal community.”

The lists are available here: https://www.dccourts.gov/sites/default/files/Final_2024_Pro_Bono_Honor_Roll_by_Affiliation.pdf