We didn’t want to give the award for Best Litigation Department of the Year to the same firm two times in a row. Honestly, when my colleagues read the 71 submissions for that category, they saw many strong contenders in our biennial contest. But it was hard to argue with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s spectacular work for Wal-Mart, gay marriage, former AIG villain Joseph Cassano, and Chevron—among many other clients. The Gibson, Dunn lawyers aren’t shy, and their egos are fully formed. But the department’s deep bench, brains, and tenacity put it in a unique position among The Am Law 200′s litigation groups. Congratulations to Gibson, Dunn for winning The American Lawyer’s sixth Litigation Department of the Year award. And a hearty thanks to all of the firms that participated in each of our categories.
I also want to commend my colleagues for their fine work, especially the indefatigable American Lawyer general litigation judging team: Susan Beck, Michael D. Goldhaber, Amy Kolz, and Claire Zillman. Susan, a 24-year veteran of The American Lawyer, led our overhaul of the contest this year: We gave firms more flexibility to choose the results they wanted to highlight from the August 1, 2009–July 31, 2011, time frame. We also asked firms to write an essay tying together their litigation successes over that period.
