Gibbons Signature Initiatives

Through our dedicated community outreach and pro bono program – Gibbons Cares – the firm donates more than $1 million annually, as well as extensive volunteer service and pro bono legal representation, in support of those communities in which the firm has offices. Community outreach and corporate responsibility are firm-wide values, and Gibbons Cares encourages employee feedback and project leadership, fostering the sense of teamwork necessary to achieve exceptional results. And while we are committed to the philosophy of “doing good while doing well,” we are lucky enough to have clients who share that philosophy, and we are proud to partner with them on many of our outreach projects.

The award-winning Gibbons Women’s Initiative (GWI) is a critical component of the firm’s efforts to create a more diverse attorney workforce and leadership team, by implementing innovative and proven programs that promote diversity awareness both internally and throughout the legal community. Founded in 1997, the GWI is a highly successful platform for new and senior women attorneys to participate with each other, clients, and high-level representatives from business and academia in quality educational and social programs that improve knowledge; foster teamwork; provide vital mentoring, networking, and business development opportunities; advise on family-friendly benefits; and promote the role of women in business. The GWI has grown into a highly respected organization, with more than 60 Gibbons women actively working on its programs and more than 2,000 invited women participating in them.

The Gibbons Diversity Initiative (GDI) promotes inclusion both at the firm and throughout the legal and business communities, particularly with respect to women and minorities. Gibbons is, and has been since our founding in 1926, headquartered in Newark, a city with a dynamic, diverse population from which we have always drawn a significant portion of our employee base. We have, therefore, always been aware of the distinct value diversity brings to a workplace. Diversity provides valuable perspectives, cultural competence, and talents that allow us to be more creative, effective, and ultimately successful in the practice of law and service to our clients; diversity of perspective results in diversity of solutions, and we are in the solution delivery business. GDI is a comprehensive strategy, comprising both internal and external components, that puts into action a longstanding commitment and involves all aspects of the firm’s operation.

The Gibbons Fellowship, launched in 1990, was originally conceived as a five-year commitment. Throughout its history, it has litigated the most significant legal issues of our time – from the death penalty to same-sex marriage, from the rights of detained enemy combatants at Guantánamo and elsewhere (including the right of the public to know about their treatment) to equal funding for education, from the law of domestic violence to the rights of pregnant women, juvenile defendants, persons with AIDS, immigrants and prison inmates, among others.

One of the ways Gibbons attracts and retains its top-tier workforce is through such initiatives as the Gibbons Experience, a generous benefits program that provides something for everyone. Each employee is different, and the Gibbons Experience addresses individual needs that go beyond traditional benefits and, significantly, encourages employee retention. For example, after parental leave, an attorney can opt to return to work first on a 60 percent basis of the hours expected of a full-time attorney, and after one year on an 80 percent basis for an indefinite period of time. These policies do not affect an attorney’s ability to be promoted – in fact, the firm has promoted part-time attorneys to the posts of Director and Counsel. Additionally, Gibbons supports an emergency child care program, sharing the cost for this service each day it is used.