Attorney Profile

Larry S. Gibson serves as Of Counsel to the Firm and concentrates in litigation and administrative law. He has been teaching law since 1972 and continues to serve as a Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, where he teaches Evidence, Civil Procedure, Racial Discrimination and the Law, and Election Law. He has also taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Aberdeen (Scotland).

Mr. Gibson is the author of YOUNG THURGOOD: THE MAKING OF A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE (Prometheus Books, 2012). Hailed by historian Taylor Branch as "a triumph of discovery and restraint," the biography covers Thurgood Marshall's education and early legal career. Kirkus Reviews has described the book as "a well-researched and engaging biography and a fine addition to Marshall scholarship."

An experienced political organizer, Mr. Gibson was campaign manager for the Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke in his successful elections in 1987, 1991, and 1995 as Mayor of the City of Baltimore. He has run numerous other election campaigns, including the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign in Maryland. In recent years, he has advised the campaigns of African political leaders, including the President of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Mr. Gibson was Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. In that capacity, he served as vice chairman of the National Security Council Working Group on Terrorism, which coordinated the counter-terrorism efforts of numerous federal agencies, and director of the National Economic Crimes Project at the U.S. Department of Justice. He planned and coordinated various matters relating to the activities of the Justice Department, including investigations, corrections, law enforcement assistance, and intergovernmental relations.

From 1973 to 1977, Mr. Gibson was on the faculty of the American Academy of Judicial Education. In the 1980s, he served as Reporter to the Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and played a major role in the reorganization of the Maryland Rules of Procedure. He also served for ten years on the committee of the National Board of Law Examiners that develops the Evidence section of the Multi-State Bar Examination. Since 1990, he has been a member of the American Law Institute, which drafts Restatements of the Law.

Affiliations

  • Member, Monumental City Bar Association
  • Columbia University Law School Board of Visitors
  • Founder, Baltimore-Gbarnga (Liberia) Sister-City relationship, 1973
  • Participant, First Liberian Judicial Conference
  • U.S. Delegation, European Preparatory Meeting for the Fifth U.N. Conference on Crimes and the Treatment of Prisoners (Bonn, Germany), 1977
  • Co-Chairman, Baltimore Bicentennial Celebration, 1997
  • Visiting Professor of Law, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, 1996

Books Published

News & Publications

August 23, 2024
The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law featured in The Maryland Carey Law Summer 2024 Magazine

The Maryland Carey Law Summer 2024 Magazine highlights the important work of The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law, named after our esteemed Of Counsel Larry S. Gibson.

October 14, 2023
The Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law

Shapiro Sher warmly congratulates our long-time Of Counsel Larry S. Gibson on the establishment of the Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

June 10, 2019
The Baltimore Sun Names Larry S. Gibson to its Business & Civic Hall of Fame

The newspaper inducted Mr. Gibson and 11 other civic and business leaders into its Hall of Fame.

March 12, 2018
Sages for the Ages: Larry S. Gibson and Ronald M. Shapiro in Conversation

January 15, 2015
Larry Gibson is keynote speaker at Harford Humanitarian Awards luncheon

The Baltimore Sun reports on Shapiro Sher's Larry S. Gibson's keynote address.

October 01, 2014
Up Hill Climb

Baltimore Magazine interviews Larry Gibson for a feature on US Congressman Elijah Cummings

June 28, 2014
Equality's Struggles

June 28, 2014: The Baltimore Sun features Larry Gibson in an article titled, "Equality's struggles"

May 28, 2014
Larry Gibson quoted in Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun quotes Shapiro Sher's Larry Gibson in an article titled, "Maya Angelou's dealth brings forth memories, tributes from Maryland friends."

December 04, 2013
"High court explains why typos don't matter"

Larry S. Gibson is quoted in the Maryland Daily Record about a Maryland Court of Appeals decision regarding zip-code errors on petitions.

July 01, 2013
Baltimore Magazine profiles Shapiro Sher attorney Larry S. Gibson

Long before writing YOUNG THURGOOD, Larry Gibson broke down Baltimore's political barriers."

February 06, 2013
"NAACP fund needs Marshall's tenacity"

Attorney Larry Gibson and his new book, Young Thurgood, are featured prominently in USA Today.

December 10, 2012
"Gibson's 'Young Thurgood' details Marshall's influences"

Larry Gibson's new book, Young Thurgood, takes readers through the early years of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

November 20, 2012
Early reviews praise new Thurgood Marshall biography

Kirk's reviews and Publisher's Weekly share thoughts on Gibson's soon-to-be-released book.