A litigation partner in the Richmond firm ThompsonMcMullan was recommended Wednesday by Virginia Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner for a slot on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Webb and Warner recommended Richmond resident John Gibney Jr., 57, who practices in fields that include civil rights, employment law and local government matters. Click here for his biography.
Gibney has been a partner with ThompsonMcMullan since 2003. The Pennsylvania native and University of Virginia Law School graduate (1976) has practiced law for 33 years. Gibney was one of several candidates Webb and Warner reviewed.
“John Gibney presents a long and distinguished record of service in our state and federal courts,” Warner said in a statement. “He is well-regarded in legal circles, and Senator Webb and I believe Mr. Gibney will be a strong addition to the federal bench in Virginia.”
Gibney served as a director of Shuford, Rubin & Gibney for sixteen years before joining ThompsonMcMullan in 2003. The Virginia State Bar ranked Gibney and two others—Virginia state Circuit Judge Randy Bellows and federal Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck—as highly qualified to serve on the federal trial court.
Gibney, who clerked for former Chief Justice Harry Carrico of the Supreme Court of Virginia, called the recommendation humbling. "I was a law clerk for my first job and I thought there was no higher place where a lawyer can serve his community and profession," Gibney said about serving on the bench.
If Gibney is nominated and confirmed, he would take a slot that opened up in May 2007 when Judge Robert Payne took senior status. Payne, a nominee under President George H.W. Bush, has served in the Eastern District since 1992.
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