Gibbons Cares

In 2008, Gibbons was named Corporate Citizen of the Year by NJBIZ, the premier weekly newspaper covering the state’s business community. This award is bestowed on the nominee demonstrating exceptional community involvement that provides tangible benefits throughout the community and state, as well as a sustained, unique commitment to its employees.

Gibbons has collectively designated our community outreach efforts Gibbons Cares, through which the firm donates more than $1 million annually, as well as extensive pro bono service.

The John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law
One of the firm’s most significant contributions has been the creation and full funding of the John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional Law, which delivers significant pro bono public interest legal services throughout the state. Working with a broad cross-section of public interest groups, the Fellowship Program has become widely known in New Jersey and nationally as a voice for the poor and underrepresented.

Unlike traditional legal services projects or law firm pro bono programs, the Fellowship Program is able to tackle public interest issues of major importance and to provide the resources and continuity of personnel to pursue projects to conclusion. The Gibbons Fellowship is also unique among fellowship programs in the breadth of legal issues addressed. The Program brings together the experience and knowledge of Judge Gibbons and Fellowship Director Lawrence S. Lustberg, the dedication and talent of Fellowship recipients, the professional resources and experience of the firm as a whole, and the unwavering support of firm management.

The Fellowship plays a critical role in a wide range of cases presenting issues of cutting-edge legal importance and broad significance to the public, focusing most closely on cases relating to same sex marriage equality, the death penalty, the Freedom of Information Act, educational equity, military detainees, family law, urban redevelopment, and prisoners’ rights. In addition, the Fellowship played a key advisory role when a team from the Gibbons Government Affairs Department served as lead lobbying counsel for New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP), which resulted in New Jersey becoming the first state in the country to repeal its death penalty statute since capital punishment was reinstated by the United States Supreme Court in 1976. Gibbons was at the forefront of this landmark legislative initiative and public policy change, finalized in December 2007.

The Fellowship also continues to be honored for its work. The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization wholly dedicated to advocating equal access to justice for all people. At its annual awards ceremony in June, NLADA presented Gibbons and the Fellowship with one of its 2008 “Beacon of Justice” Awards, which honor law firms providing pro bono service to people on death row.

The Gibbons Institute of Law, Science and Technology
In 2007, Gibbons donated $1 million to Seton Hall University School of Law to endow the Gibbons Institute of Law, Science and Technology, designed to train professionals in health and intellectual property law and advance the school’s J.D. and M.S.J. degrees to better meet the needs of industries facing cutting-edge technological and associated legal challenges. The Institute facilitates the launch of an LL.M. degree in intellectual property law and supports special events, lectures, training series, and communications efforts.

New Jersey State Bar Foundation Endowment
This is a five-year commitment to assist the foundation in updating and redesigning their offices in New Brunswick to respond to changes in the legal and business communities. The New Jersey State Bar Foundation shares our long-standing commitment to the state’s legal community and to the training of the young attorneys. This partnership also provides us with an opportunity to pay tribute to our founding named directors—John J. Gibbons, Ralph N. Del Deo, John T. Dolan, Michael R. Griffinger, and Frank J. Vecchione—by naming a conference room at the center after them and hanging their portrait there.

Pro Bono Commitment
In addition to the firm’s signature pro bono program, the Gibbons Fellowship, our attorneys accept volunteer federal and state court appointments in criminal, family, immigration, probate, and virtually every other aspect of the law, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in legal services for the community and those in need. Recently, Gibbons has served local residents through work for a charter school in Newark (Marion P. Thomas Charter School), the Black Youth Organization, the Boys & Girls Club, various Newark housing projects designed for families who work in the city (Newark Community Revitalization Inc.), military families in need, and prisoners reentering society. We also continued our long-standing and unwavering participation in Essex/Newark Legal Services and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice.

The firm’s pro bono commitment has been recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal as the top firm for pro bono in the state, earning an A+ score for these efforts. In addition, the Gibbons Fellowship has been recognized by numerous groups including the American Bar Association, New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women, Garden State Equality, and the Garden State Bar Association.

Community and Charitable Outreach
The firm and its employees contribute to a variety of causes, particularly those that benefit Newark. We have sponsored a holiday gift drive for children in the Newark community, “The Great Read,” which focuses on providing books to 320 students and the library at a top Newark charter school. This program invites students, grades 5-8, to submit a wish list of books they would like to read, and Gibbons employees act as Secret Santas, providing books from each student’s wish list. To complete the gifts, the firm provides a backpack and t-shirt for every student. In addition to the individual gifts for students, we donate books to the school’s library.

A proud sponsor of the first-ever Susan G. Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure, held in Newark in May 2008, Gibbons fielded the largest team to participate in this fundraising event for breast cancer research. The firm registered 100 employees and 375 total participants and ranked as the “Corporate Team Top Fundraiser.” Members of the Gibbons team, decked out in the pink Gibbons hats that provided another donation opportunity, participated in all three available races: the 5K run; the 5K walk; and the 1.5 mile “fun walk.”

Gibbons is also an enthusiastic participant in the Fresh Air Fund Softball Tournament, known as the “Battle of the Barristers,” which raises money for the Greater Newark Fresh Air Fund. The Fresh Air Fund provides camping and learning experiences for inner-city children from the greater Newark area. Each summer, approximately 500-600 youngsters escape the heat of the city to participate for up to two weeks at a camp that has been certified and accredited with a program suitable for children.

The firm and our attorneys are deeply involved with many of Newark’s arts institutions, such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. We also actively support numerous educational institutions in Newark, including a corporate intern program with Christ the King School to provide both educational and work experience to economically disadvantaged high school students. The firm also supports the Rutgers University Foundation, a partnership with Rutgers Law School – Newark to honor one of our founding partners, Ralph N. Del Deo.

To underscore our dedication to the city’s ongoing economic and business revitalization, we belong to the Newark Regional Business Partnership of corporations, professionals, small businesses, universities, and non-profits join increase their organizations’ visibility and to enhance the region’s economic competitiveness.

Finally, through the Gibbons Women’s Initiative, we support women’s health causes by fielding teams for fundraising walks like the Komen Walk, as well as the Revlon Run/Walk For Women, American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, and the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Campaign. The Initiative helps children with educational needs by sponsoring an annual Backpack and School Supplies Drive, while assisting women in transition through clothing and accessories drives for the Dress for Success Campaign and the construction of homes through local Habitat for Humanity projects.