Gilchrist, Troy J.

Michael R. Gibson graduated from Steven F. Austin High school in El Paso, Texas in 1957.  He received a Bachelors Degree with dual majors in Psychology and English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 1961 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas Law School in 1964.  In 1969, after several years in private practice, he joined the 34th Judicial District Attorney's office in El Paso, Texas, as a prosecutor.  He rose to the position of First Assistant District Attorney, Chief of Felony Prosecution and Head of the Organized Crime Control Unit.  He left that office in 1972 to reenter private practice, specializing in Criminal Trials and Appeals.  He is licensed to practice in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado and has had extensive experience in both State and Federal Courts in those states. He is admitted to the United States Courts of Appeal for the 5th, 10th, and 11th circuits and the United States Supreme Court.

Gibson has achieved Martindale Hubbell National Law Directory's highest rating, AV.  In 1997 he was rated among the top 10 Criminal Defense Attorneys by a secret vote of judges in El Paso County. Gibson has recently been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America 2005 through 2010.  He is also listed in Texas Monthly Magazine Super Lawyers 2007 through 2010.  He has lectured extensively at Criminal Law Seminars throughout the state and is widely recognized as an expert in habeas corpus matters. 

He is a longtime member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and has served several terms on its Board of Directors.  He is on the Board of Directors of the El Paso Criminal Law Group, a non-profit organization which presents continuing legal education seminars to criminal attorneys in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico areas. 

Gibson has been lead counsel in more than 400 jury trials in his career and in thousands of other, non-jury criminal proceedings and appeals.  Gibson has been certified as an expert in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1975.  He received a Certificate of Specialization from the New Mexico Board of Legal Specialization as a trial specialist in criminal law in 1991.