Founders
Our firm was founded by Kenneth C. Gibbs and Joseph M. Giden.
Kenneth C. Gibbs was born in Washington D.C., moved with his family to Los Angeles in the early 1950’s, graduated from Hamilton High School, received his B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D., from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law. In 1974 he joined Most & Bertram as an associate and then became a partner in Most, Bertram & Gibbs in 1976. In 1978 he became a partner in Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs, which was headquartered in Washington D.C., and opened the firm’s Century City office. In 1988 that office became Gibbs Giden. Mr. Gibbs retired from the practice of law in 2006. In addition to being a prolific author and speaker he has been a leading neutral with JAMS since his retirement from the firm. He is currently one of the leading neutrals in the United States and worldwide with expertise in mediating and conducting neutral evaluations on construction, engineering, real estate, energy, surety, insurance coverage, insurance subrogation, and business disputes.
Joseph M. Giden (1933-2014)
Joseph M. Giden was born in New York, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. He went on to graduate from Dartmouth College (A.B. cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) where majored in government, served as technical director of the campus radio, was a member of the Pre-Law Club and then from Harvard University Law School (LL.B., cum laude) in 1958. Joe was drafted and served in the U.S. Army at Fort Ord from 1959 to 1961. In the army Joe was initially assigned to kitchen patrol. His true talents were soon uncovered, however, and he was quickly moved away from peeling potatoes and called upon to provide legal advice and prepare tax returns for his commanding officers.
Joe began his private practice legal career with the small Los Angeles firm of Jones & Bednar, where he developed his practice which emphasized the representation of sureties, title insurance companies and entities in the construction industry. In the late 1970’s, Joe became a partner in the firm of Mazirow, Forer, Lawrence, Cunningham & Giden. In 1982 he joined as a partner in this firm that would eventually become Gibbs Giden Locher Turner Senet & Wittbrodt. Giden was a litigator, counselor and mediator in the surety, title insurance and construction industry. In 2010, Joe was inducted into the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s 50-year club, and he practiced law until his retirement in 2014. In addition to his career Joe served in the Israeli Army as part of Sar-El for periods of three weeks each year.