PERFORMING OUR FUTURE:
F O R U M
ALEX GIBSON
Alex Gibson, the Executive Director of Appalshop, graduated from Berea College in 2008 with a B.A. in Philosophy and earned his J.D., Doctor of Laws, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2012. He also holds a certificate in Comparative Law from Queen Mary at the University of London, England and in Thai and South East Asian Studies from Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
After college, Alex was one of 50 national recipients of the Watson Fellowship, which provides a grant for independent study and travel outside of the United States. The focus of Alex’s project led him to travel to areas of conflict in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle-East and South America for 12 months. He now serves on the Watson Fellowship Selection Committee at his alma matter.
Before joining Appalshop, Alex practiced law within the Torts, Insurance, and Business Litigation practice groups at Stites & Harbison, PLLC in Louisville, KY and in the Business Litigation group at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersol in Philadelphia, PA. Before entering private practice, he served as a federal law clerk for the Hon. Thomas W. Phillips, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, where he assisted in the resolution of multi-million dollar lawsuits, federal criminal trials, and critical questions of constitutional law, particularly those issues that implicate the First Amendment.
Prior to his clerkship and while attending law school, Alex provided Pro Bono legal services to asylum seekers from central and west Africa, conducted tax workshops in West Philadelphia, and was part of a delegation sent to Mombasa, Kenya to teach constitutional law to women’s rights groups in the wake of Kenyan constitutional reform.
After college, Alex was one of 50 national recipients of the Watson Fellowship, which provides a grant for independent study and travel outside of the United States. The focus of Alex’s project led him to travel to areas of conflict in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle-East and South America for 12 months. He now serves on the Watson Fellowship Selection Committee at his alma matter.
Before joining Appalshop, Alex practiced law within the Torts, Insurance, and Business Litigation practice groups at Stites & Harbison, PLLC in Louisville, KY and in the Business Litigation group at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersol in Philadelphia, PA. Before entering private practice, he served as a federal law clerk for the Hon. Thomas W. Phillips, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, where he assisted in the resolution of multi-million dollar lawsuits, federal criminal trials, and critical questions of constitutional law, particularly those issues that implicate the First Amendment.
Prior to his clerkship and while attending law school, Alex provided Pro Bono legal services to asylum seekers from central and west Africa, conducted tax workshops in West Philadelphia, and was part of a delegation sent to Mombasa, Kenya to teach constitutional law to women’s rights groups in the wake of Kenyan constitutional reform.