Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a global white shoe law firm[3][4] headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm employs 800 attorneys throughout 22 offices around the world.
Headquarters | TCW Tower Los Angeles, California |
---|---|
No. of offices | 22 |
No. of attorneys | 800+[1] |
Major practice areas | Litigation only |
Key people | John Quinn |
Revenue | |
Date founded | 1 January 1986 |
Founder | John B. Quinn, Eric Emanuel, David Quinto, Phyllis Kupferstein |
Company type | Limited liability partnership |
Website | Quinn Emanuel Trial Lawyers - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP |
History
The firm was established in 1986[5][6] by John B. Quinn, Eric Emanuel, David Quinto, and Phyllis Kupferstein, with the purpose of being a litigation-only firm. Joined, in 1988, by name partner A. William Urquhart, the firm also aimed to do away with law firm formalities.
Part of the firm's self-image is its lack of a formal dress code. This casual self-image extends into the corporate structure of the firm, which eschews any formal management committees, other than an advisory committee for the evaluation of contingency fee cases. About 35 percent of Quinn attorneys went to Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, New York University, or Columbia law schools.[7]
Quinn Emanuel is the first AmLaw 100 firm to have a female name partner.[8][9] The firm changed its name in March 2010 to include Kathleen Sullivan, former Dean of Stanford Law School, who heads the firm's appellate practice. The firm was previously known as Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges.[10]
In 2014, the firm was the subject of a Freedom of Information Act request by Microsoft, in connection with a contract it had supposedly signed with the IRS.[11]
Intellectual property litigation is the firm’s largest practice area and currently has over 200 lawyers who litigate IP cases.[12] Quinn Emanuel represented the Winklevoss twins' social network, ConnectU, in its lawsuit that accused Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing ideas for his own social network. The parties reached a confidential settlement, yet Quinn Emanuel later revealed the confidential settlement amount of $65 million in a firm advertisement.[13]
International expansion and offices
Beginning in 2007, Quinn Emanuel expanded internationally by opening its first foreign office in Tokyo. A year later, the firm expanded to London, then Chicago in 2009, Mannheim, Germany in 2010, Moscow in 2011, and Hamburg in 2012.[14][15] On September 1, 2011, Washington, D.C.'s Legal Times Blog announced that the firm was opening its first office in the nation's capital. In 2013, the firm opened offices in Paris, Munich, Hong Kong, and Sydney, and, in 2014, it opened offices in Brussels and Houston office. LegalWeek reported that Quinn Emanuel opened an office in Seattle in 2015.[16] Other offices of the firm are located in New York City, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Stuttgart, Perth, Shanghai and Zurich.
Recognition and rankings
Quinn Emanuel consistently ranks among the top of various industry surveys. The American Lawyer ranked the firm "Top IP Litigation Department of the Year" in 2010 and one of the top six Litigation Departments in the U.S.[17] In 2012, The American Lawyer recognized the firm as having one of the top three IP Litigation Departments in the country[18] In 2016, The American Lawyer ranked the firm one of the top six Litigation Departments in the U.S.[19] Chambers and Partners recognized John B. Quinn as "one of the best trial lawyers in California."[20] Chambers and Partners also ranked Quinn Emanuel among the top tiers for the following categories: Intellectual Property: Patent, Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets; Litigation: General Commercial, Trial Lawyers and White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations; Media and Entertainment; Appellate Law; Bankruptcy and Reconstructing; Sports Law; and Insurance.[21]
Quinn Emanuel regularly appears within the top three of The American Lawyer's annual listing of highest profits per partner. In 2010, Quinn Emanuel posted profits per partner of $3.6 million, ranking number two in the United States.[22] In 2011, profits per partner rose to $4.1 million.[23] For the last four years, Quinn Emanuel has been second in profits per partner, with 2014 rising to $4.925 million.[24] The American Lawyer also ranked the firm first in profit margin in 2014.[24]
In Vault.com's specialty rankings of 2013, Quinn Emanuel ranked 1st in general commercial litigation and 5th in intellectual property litigation.[25] In January 2011, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel the "Insurance Group of the Year" award.[26] In June 2011, the British legal publication, The Lawyer awarded Quinn Emanuel's London office "International Law Firm of the Year."[27] In 2011 for the second year in a row, The Financial Times named Quinn Emanuel a "Top Innovative Firm of the Year."[28] In October 2013, Quinn Emanuel was named one of the Most Feared Plaintiffs Firms by Law360.[29] In 2012 and 2014,[30] Legal Business named the firm "US Law Firm of the Year."[31] In January 2014, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel "Practice Group of the Year" in the following categories: Appellate, IP, Banking, Class Action, and Insurance.[32] In 2015, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel "Practice Group of the Year" in the following categories: Appellate, Banking, Class Action, Product Liability and White Collar.[33] The following year, Law360 once again awarded Quinn Emanuel "Practice Group of the Year" in the following categories: Banking, Intellectual Property, and White Collar.[34] Since 2010, Quinn Emanuel has been recognized on BTI Consulting Group's "Fearsome Foursome" list of law firms most feared by in-house company lawyers.[35][36] The firm ranked first among the most feared for 2020.[37]
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP has reportedly been quite selective in their recruiting process.[38][39][40][41][42] Since 2011,[43] profits per equity partner have been the second highest in the world.[44][45][46][47][48]
Notable partners
Notable alumni
References
- https://www.quinnemanuel.com/
- "The Global 100: Most Revenue".
- "IRS May Have Broken Law, Put Taxpayers on Hook for $1,000 per Hour Trial Lawyers". 1 May 2015.
- "MOST INFLUENTIAL LAWYERS: JOHN QUINN, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan". 28 March 2011.
- "Quinn partners leave New York office to set up new practice". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- Lat, David. "Flashback Friday: The Nation's 15 Most Prestigious Law Firms — In 2008 And 1998". Above the Law. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- Firm Feature - Chambers Associate Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- "What's in a Name".
- "Law.com".
- "Quinn Emanuel Makes Kathleen Sullivan Name Partner".
- "Microsoft sues the IRS, seeks more details on contract with law firm hired to perform audits". 24 November 2014.
- "Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP".
- "Oops! Law Firm Leaks Facebook Settlement Amount". Associated Press. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
- "Quinn Emanuel Adds Hamburg Office, Makes Another Key Lateral Hire in D.C."
- "Focus: The litigation top 50 - Wars of the world - The Lawyer - Legal News and Jobs - Advancing the business of law". 4 December 2011.
- "Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan launches Seattle office".
- "The American Lawyer".
- "Litigation Department of the Year Winners and Finalists, 2002-2012".
- "Meet the Winners: Litigation Department of the Year".
- "California - Litigation: General Commercial Lawyers & Law Firms - USA - Chambers and Partners".
- "John B Quinn - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP - Los Angeles - Lawyer Profile Chambers USA 2016 - Chambers and Partners".
- "Quinn Emanuel Boosts Profits Per Partner to $3.62M, Hires Associates as Quickly as Possible".
- "Quinn Emanuel cites contingent fees as reason for strong 2011 financials - The Lawyer - Legal News and Jobs - Advancing the business of law". 30 January 2012.
- "Firms Ranked by Profits Per Partner".
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP Rankings | Vault.com Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Insurance Group Of The Year: Quinn Emanuel - Law360
- "The Lawyer Awards 2011: Winners - The Lawyer - Legal News and Jobs - Advancing the business of law". 22 June 2011.
- "US Innovative Lawyers 2011" (PDF). Financial Publishing. 3 November 2011.
- Chiem, Linda. "Most Feared Plaintiffs Firm: Quinn Emanuel". Law360. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- "US Law Firm of the Year 2014: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan". Legal Business.
- Jake Simpson (1 January 2014). "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year". Law360.
- "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year - Law360".
- "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- Andrew Strickler (9 September 2013). "The 4 Firms In House Counsel Fear the Most". Law360.
- Ryan Davis (3 September 2010). "The 4 Firms In-House Counsel Fear The Most". Law360.
- Clients Name the 33 Most Feared Firms in Litigation. September 18, 2019. BTI Consulting Group.
- "Vault Law 100". 2016.
- "2015 Most Selective Firms". 2015.
- "Top 10 Ways Attorneys Can Move to a Better Law Firm and Get a Better Attorney Job".
- "Flashback Friday: The Nation's 15 Most Prestigious Law Firms — In 2008 And 1998". 20 June 2014.
- "Annual Ranking Highlights The Most Prestigious Law Firms In The U.S." 20 June 2014.
- "Profits Per Partner: Profits Increase Moderately". ALM Media. 1 May 2013.
- "Complete Profits Per Equity Partner Rankings". Law Firm Stats. February 12, 2013.
- Donovan, Karen (27 April 2011). "Big Law Firms' Profits and Revenues Rise in American Lawyer Survey". The New York Times.
- "Wachtell PPP Again Tops Global 100, at $4.35M, Followed by Quinn Emanuel, at $3.62M".
- "Firms Ranked by Profits Per Partner".
- "Firms Ranked by Profits Per Partner".