Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Gibson Dunn is a global law firm that leads in both transactional and disputes practices, which have brought consistent revenue growth in the last 28 years consecutively. In 2023, the firm's global revenue surpassed the $3 billion milestone after growing by 12.3%. In London, Gibson Dunn focuses on traditional real estate, real estate financing, and international arbitration, which have been the driving forces behind the 25% surge in revenue for London in 2023. The firm further received ten other tier-3 and above rankings from Legal 500 2025, reflecting its established and balanced platform in London. On the transactional side in London, Gibson Dunn’s growth has centred around real estate. Firstly, the firm is particularly experienced in representing asset managers (so-called “sponsors”) like KKR, Brookfield, Apollo, and Oaktree in their direct investment into real estate including commercial properties, residential properties, and infrastructures. Secondly, the team advises the same sponsor clients on real estate private equity transactions, i.e. real estate M&As, joint ventures, and co-investment deals. Oaktree is a regular client, and most recently, Gibson Dunn advised this client on a successful EUR 1.4 billion bid for a majority share in Deutsche EuroShop, a German listed company which holds shopping centres in Germany. Finally, the firm is also regularly instructed on real estate and infrastructure asset backed financing transactions, such as advising BlackRock in connection with the financing for its acquisition of a stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines. Gibson Dunn’s London team co-leads the firm’s stellar international arbitration practice, recognised as Law360 International Arbitration Group Of The Year twice in the last four years, together with the New York office. The London team is frequently instructed by claimants in investor-state arbitration, such as Iraq Telecom, in a dispute surrounding its investment in Korek, a government-owned mobile operator in Kurdistan. Gibson Dunn successfully established that Korek and its controlling shareholder had influenced the government of Kurdistan through corruption and caused the government to expropriate their client’s investment. The win secured over $1.7 billion for Gibson Dunn’s client, in one of the year’s largest arbitration awards. This result was significant not only for the size of the award but also for the findings of fraud and corruption, which are notoriously challenging to prove in international arbitration due to the high burden of proof. In addition, Gibson Dunn’s London disputes team is known for its niche in cross-jurisdictional enforcement of arbitration awards. This involves pursuing claims against a losing party’s assets through national courts in the jurisdictions where those assets are located, particularly when sanction issues are involved. The team also identifies awards in the market that are in need of enforcement, advises third parties like litigation funders and insurers who are willing to fund the work on the likelihood of the related assets being enforced, and designs appropriate strategies for the funders to realise their investment. While many firms offer enforcement work, only a few (White & Case, Curtis, Kobre & Kim) specialise in it to the extent Gibson Dunn does. International arbitration is just one of three key pillars of Gibson Dunn London’s disputes practice, alongside commercial litigation and regulatory investigations. Lawyers within the team are encouraged to work across at least two of these areas, fostering a diverse experience and collaboration. With in-house advocacy capabilities that include two King Counsels, a former Lord Chancellor, and a former President of the European Court of Human Rights, the team is regularly called upon to handle cross-border litigation in telecoms, financial services, energy, aviation, media and sport, in addition to an emerging competition litigation practice. Recently, the team has been active in opt-out class actions, representing Apple in two cases in the UK concerning alleged exclusionary practices and excessive pricing relating to the Apple App Store. The first involves a £800 million claim brought by developers, while the second has been filed collectively by consumers and valued between £621 million and £1.7 billion.