An attorney who was proud to have represented working people — “from deep-sea divers to airplane pilots,” he once said — Gilbert helped draft the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the request of President Lyndon Johnson. He later also helped Vice President Hubert Humphrey form the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
When a labor contract dispute threatened the opening of the 1984 Olympics, Gilbert immediately went in and solved it even though it was a national holiday. “I’m a labor lawyer,” he told his wife, “and the show must go on.” And it did. Gilbert also had a strong interest in international law, noting over 50 years ago that “The methods used in solving labor-management problems should be used in world affairs — negotiations, good will and mutual respect.” Gilbert died July 22 at home in California. He was 80.