Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Headquarters	TCW Tower Los Angeles
No. of offices	18 [1]
No. of attorneys	700 [2]
Major practice areas	Litigation only
Key people	John Quinn
Revenue	$1.1 billion (2014)[3]
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

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a global white shoe^[4][5] law firm. It is one of the most prestigious and selective law firms in the world.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} Since 2011,^[11] profits per equity partner have been the second highest in the world.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and currently employs 700^[17] attorneys throughout eighteen locations around the world, including New York City, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Tokyo, London, Mannheim, Moscow, Hamburg, Paris, Hong Kong, Munich, Sydney, Brussels, and Seattle. The firm's largest office is located in New York City.

History

The firm was established in 1986 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 aimed to do away with law firm formalities. 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.^[18][19] On September 1, 2011, Washington DC's Legal Times Blog announced that the firm was opening up 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 a Brussels office and a Houston office.^[20] LegalWeek reported that Quinn Emanuel opened an office in Seattle in 2015.^[21]

Quinn Emanuel is the first AmLaw 100 firm to have a female name partner.^[22][23] 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.^[24]

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.^[25]

A large part of the firm's self-image is the lack of a formal dress code. This casual self-image extends into the corporate structure of the firm, which lacks any formal management committees other than an advisory committee for the evaluation of contingency fee cases. Around 35 percent of Quinn attorneys went to Yale, Harvard, Stanford, NYU or Columbia.^[26]

Intellectual property litigation is the firm’s largest practice area and currently has over 200 lawyers who litigate IP cases.^[27]

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.^[28] In 2012, The American Lawyer recognized the firm as having one of the top three IP Litigation Departments in the country ^[29] In 2016, The American Lawyer ranked the firm one of the top six Litigation Departments in the U.S.^[30] Chambers and Partners recognized John B. Quinn as "one of the best trial lawyers in California." ^[31] 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.^[32]

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.^[33] In 2011, profits per partner rose to $4.1 million.^[34] For the last four years, Quinn Emanuel has been second in profits per partner, with 2014 rising to $4.925 million.^[35] The American Lawyer also ranked the firm first in profit margin in 2014.^[36]

In Vault.com's specialty rankings of 2013, Quinn Emanuel ranked 1st in general commercial litigation and 5th in intellectual property litigation.^[37] Legal 500 ranks Quinn Emanuel as a second tier firm in the Patent Litigation and Trade Secrets practice areas.^[38] In January 2011, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel the "Insurance Group of the Year" award.^[39] In June 2011, the British legal publication, The Lawyer awarded Quinn Emanuel's London office "International Law Firm of the Year." ^[40] In 2011 for the second year in a row, The Financial Times named Quinn Emanuel a "Top Innovative Firm of the Year."^[41] In October 2013, Quinn Emanuel was named one of the Most Feared Plaintiffs Firms by Law360.^[42] In 2012 and 2014,^[43] Legal Business named the firm "US Law Firm of the Year." ^[44] In January 2014, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel "Practice Group of the Year" in the following categories: Appellate, IP, Banking, Class Action, and Insurance.^[45] Quinn Emanuel has also been twice named one of the "4 Firms In-House Counsel Fear the Most" by Law360.^[46][47] In 2015, Law360 awarded Quinn Emanuel "Practice Group of the Year" in the following categories: Appellate, Banking, Class Action, Product Liability and White Collar.^[48]

Notable lawyers

• John B. Quinn
• Bruce Van Dalsem
• Kathleen Sullivan
• Susan Estrich
• Philippe Selendy^[49]
• Andrew Schapiro^[50]

References

External links

• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan LLP website