[4] During his time on the court, Gibbs was launched into national fame when he presided over a case involving the death of Arthur Maillefert.

After being run out of Dade County in 1930, Maillefert was arrested following an armed robbery at a Daytona Beach gas station.

The camp's warden, George Washington Courson, personally tied a chain around Maillefert's neck and left him in solitary confinement.

[7] After a sensational article by the New York Times garnered national attention, Courson and Higginbotham were both charged with first-degree murder.

On May 16, 1938, Governor Fred P. Cone appointed Gibbs as the 26th Florida Attorney General, succeeding Cary D. Landis, who had died in office.

In the 1940 commencement address at the University of Florida, Gibbs stressed the importance of patriotism in America, citing the lack of freedoms in Nazi Germany and the quick conquest of the neighboring countries.

The George Couper Gibbs residence at 2717 Riverside Avenue in Jacksonville was designed by Mellen Clark Greeley.