[1] As a general reporter at The Times from 1980, she covered stories such as the 1980 Dan-Air Flight 1008 crash in Tenerife and the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
[1] As the first person to hold the post from outside the legal profession, she had to overcome some resistance from the then editor, Charles Douglas-Home, but persuaded him that journalistic independence and an ability to communicate to the public were more important.
In 2000, she established The Times’ weekly LAW supplement, the only legal pull-out to be published by a national newspaper in the UK.
[6] In 2009, she received an award from the International Council of Jurists, presented by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers at a ceremony in London.
"[9]On 5 February 2019, a motion was tabled in the House of Commons by Keith Vaz and sponsored by Drew Hendry:[10] That this House notes the impending retirement of Frances Gibb, the Legal Editor of The Times for 19 years; recalls her distinguished career involving periods at Visnews, The Daily Telegraph and The Times, as legal correspondent from 1982; commends her reporting on such significant developments in the British legal system as the establishment of the Crown Prosecution Service, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice; welcomes the innovations in legal journalism she has facilitated that include the Law Supplement, the Student Law Supplement and The Brief; recognises the many campaigns she has led, including at The Times to end fault-based divorce proceedings; wishes her well in her retirement; and thanks her for inspiring a new generation of legal correspondents.