Bio

Thomas Gibbs is a Partner in the Corporate Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Mr. Gibbs has extensive experience in the areas of corporate acquisitions and mergers, private equity, insurance and reinsurance law and banking. He also has substantial experience advising the officers and directors of distressed financial institutions. Mr. Gibbs has been awarded an AV Preeminent rating by Martindale Hubbell® for more than thirty consecutive years. The Legal 500 United States Edition has listed him as a Recommended Lawyer in Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts and the Jacksonville 904 Magazine has listed him as one of the area’s top attorneys in Business Transactions and Corporate law. In 2019, Mr. Gibbs was recognized by a peer group for excellence in corporate and transactional law. In 1986, Mr. Gibbs opened the Florida office for the New York based Le Boeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae law firm, where he also served as Managing Partner. He has served as an officer and director of numerous corporations, including President of the MetLife Security Insurance Companies, Managing Director of Charter International Reinsurance Company BV, and Vice Chairman of the Board and General Counsel of insurance conglomerate Consolidated International Group. For more than a decade, he has also served on the Board of several different commercial banks and an investment banking firm. Mr. Gibbs has substantial insurance regulatory expertise. He has prosecuted a wide variety of client matters including: change of control (contested), licensure, examination advice, solvency and Holding Company Act issues in Delaware, Florida, New York and numerous other jurisdictions. He also has experience with title insurance, captive insurance companies and in the surplus lines market. Mr. Gibbs also has broad international experience, having advised numerous multinational corporations. Mr. Gibbs is a member of the American Bar Association, the Florida Bar, the International Bar Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association. Mr. Gibbs received his B.A. degree, with honors, from the University of Florida in 1975. He earned his J.D. from the University of New Hampshire Law School in 1978. He is admitted to practice in Florida and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Gibbs serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Director of the UF Foundation, and Member of Presidents Council for the University of Florida.