Derek Gaubatz

Derek Gaubatz is a business and nonprofit lawyer and the managing owner of Gammon & Grange, P.C. in Tysons, Virginia. He serves ministries, nonprofits, and social impact businesses on domestic and international legal matters. His practice includes nonprofit and exempt organizations, international law, employment and human resources, internal investigations, nonprofit and business transactions, First Amendment law, and civil and appellate litigation. He brings more than twenty years of in-house and litigation experience to organizational legal issues.

Gaubatz earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence with distinction from Stanford Law School in 1997 and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science summa cum laude from the University of California, San Diego. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After law school, he clerked for Judge Edward Carnes of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, gaining appellate research, writing, and judicial experience early in his career.

Gaubatz served as General Counsel for the International Mission Board from 2007 to 2019, directing legal affairs in the United States and navigating local laws in more than one hundred countries. Before that, he was Director of Litigation for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and practiced at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering. These roles developed his experience in constitutional law, international operations, litigation, employment matters, and organizational risk.

Derek Gaubatz is admitted in Virginia, California, and the District of Columbia and before numerous federal appellate courts, including the US Supreme Court. His practice combines business and nonprofit transactions with international law, investigations, employment counseling, religious liberty, and appellate litigation. He brings an in-house perspective to organizations operating across jurisdictions and helps leadership address legal structure, compliance, disputes, governance concerns, and risks affecting mission-driven operations.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Gammon & Grange, P.C.
• Member, Virginia State Bar
• Member, The State Bar of California
• Member, District of Columbia Bar
• Member, ECFA Panel of Legal Experts: Commission on Accountability & Policy for Religious Organizations
• Executive Member, Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Practice Group

Licensed State

• Virginia
• California
• District of Columbia

Education

• Stanford Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of California, San Diego
  Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Awards & Badges