About Joseph Gibson

Our principal, Joseph Gibson, has worked in and around Congress since 1982. During that time, he has advised members on antitrust, intellectual property, mergers, tort reform, bankruptcy, federal preemption of state laws, telecommunications, health care, and numerous other complex business policy issues. Named one of the key lobbyists in the world of antitrust by The Deal magazine, he provides clients with a broad range of assets that include:

  • close relationships with members of Congress and their staffs
  • substantive issue expertise
  • mastery of congressional procedure and jurisdiction
  • experience managing legislative campaigns, coalitions, and budgets
  • understanding of political fundraising

As a result of his work, Bloomberg Government recently named the Gibson Group the number one federal lobbying firm for client retention and the third overall for top performance.

Relevant Congressional Service

Mr. Gibson last worked in Congress as the Chief Minority Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee under former Chairman Lamar Smith when he was Ranking Member. In that capacity, he served as the top staff member for the Committee’s Republican members and advised them on all political and legal aspects of the Committee’s business. He was also the Chief of Staff in Representative Smith’s personal office during his campaign to become Republican leader on the Committee.

Extensive Experience in Public and Private Sectors

Mr. Gibson previously worked as the Committee’s Chief Legislative Counsel and Parliamentarian and as its Chief Antitrust Counsel. While working for the Committee, he was involved in numerous major pieces of legislation, including the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, the Satellite Home Viewer Act Reauthorization, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, and the extension of the Internet tax moratorium. In the private sector, he has lobbied on topics as diverse as telecommunications mergers, health care reform, patent law reform, competition in the technology industry, financial services regulation, McCarran-Ferguson repeal, drug approval standards, and data retention.

He also worked at the Department of Justice as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legislative Affairs and as an adviser to the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.

Background in Legal Representation

Before beginning his government service, Mr. Gibson represented clients in complex civil litigation and white collar criminal cases. In that capacity, he argued appeals before the Second, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits, as well as the D.C. Court of Appeals.

He clerked for former Chief Judge R. Lanier Anderson, III, of the Eleventh Circuit. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1987. In 1983, he graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in Political Science.

Published Author and Noted Teacher

Mr. Gibson is the author of two books on Congress, Persuading Congress and A Better Congress: Change the Rules, Change the Results. The second, A Better Congress, was a finalist for the Independent Book Publishers Association’s 2011 Ben Franklin Award in the Political and Current Events category. He has given numerous television and radio interviews relating to his books.

Mr. Gibson has taught classes on advanced legislative strategy for TheCapitol.Net, a non-partisan training firm. He has also spoken to the U.S. House of Representatives Fellows Program on the role of congressional staff.

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