Barbara L. Becker

Barbara L. Becker is Chair and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. Prior to her election to this role, Barbara served as Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group for over a decade, and also created and led the firmwide Diversity Committee.

In her practice, Barbara continues to advise companies on significant business and legal issues, including mergers and acquisitions (both domestic and cross-border), spin-offs, joint ventures, and general corporate matters. She also advises boards of directors and special committees of public companies, and represents corporations (based in and outside of the United States) and other investors in their M&A activities. 

An elite M&A lawyer, Barbara has been recognized by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Crain’s New York Business, IFLR1000, Law360, Lawdragon, New York Law Journal, The AmLaw Daily, The Best Lawyers in America^®, The Deal, The Legal 500 US, The National Law Journal, and Who’s Who Legal, among other publications and outlets. She was also named Managing Partner of the Year at the 2023 American Lawyer Industry Awards, and received the 2022 AJC Judge Learned Hand Award.

Barbara serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at New York University School of Law (Executive Committee), an inaugural member of the Advisory Board for the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at New York University School of Law,  a member of the Welcome.US CEO Council, and a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. She is also a former Chair of the New York City Bar’s Mergers, Acquisitions & Corporate Control Contests Committee.

Barbara earned her Juris Doctor in 1988 from New York University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree in 1985 from Wesleyan University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. 

Capabilities

• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Capital Markets
• Consumer Products and Retail
• Emerging Companies / Venture Capital
• Life Sciences
• Media, Entertainment, and Technology
• Private Equity
• Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance
• Shareholder Activism

Credentials

Education:

• New York University - 1988 Juris Doctor
• Wesleyan University - 1985 Bachelor of Science

Admissions:

• New York Bar