Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
- Designation: Los Angeles
- Head Count: 697
- Gross Revenues: $852,500,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $1,225,000
- Profits Per Partner: $4,435,000
- Year Over Year Change: 8
If any firm could be the poster child for alternative fee arrangements, it is Quinn Emanuel, a litigation–only firm that has climbed The Am Law 100 with huge strides in recent years (its fifty–first place finish on the 2011 list marked a 27–place leap since 2007). Gross revenues jumped by more than 30 percent in both 2010 and 2011. Profits per partner regularly rank among the top three, and broke the $4 million mark in 2011. Quinn’s secret: litigating—and pricing—outside the box.
“Obviously, we could not have achieved financial results like these simply billing by the hour,” says managing partner John Quinn. “A significant amount of our revenue came from contingent fee and other alternative fee arrangements, both on the plaintiffs and defense side.”
It doesn’t hurt that the firm, which is based in Los Angeles and numbers more than 450 lawyers, has one of the nation’s most highly regarded litigation departments (Quinn says its lawyers have won 91 percent of the 1,460 cases they’ve tried). The firm was a finalist in The American Lawyer’s 2010 Litigation Department of the Year contest, and earned honorable mentions in 2006, 2008, and 2012. Quinn’s IP litigators—who comprise nearly 40 percent of the firm’s attorneys—fared even better, earning the nod as IP Litigation Department of the Year in 2010 (and ranking as a finalist in 2012). The firm has won key cases for Google Inc., including a pair of trials defending the Internet giant’s advertising programs, and others for its A–List clients.
Famous for its lack of executive, recruitment, and compensation committees (the only formal management group is one that evaluates prospective contingency fee cases), Quinn is also noted for being the first Am Law 100 to have a female name partner (former Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan received that honor in March 2010). The firm is well known, too, for the absence of a dress code—though with the profits partners are pulling in, they certainly can afford suits.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 28 | 8 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 28 | 8 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 58 | 32 | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 170 | 30 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 28 | 8 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
Quinn Emanuel to Open in Hong Kong
Anthony Lin : The Asian Lawyer : May 16, 2013
Former Kim & Chang senior foreign attorney John Rhie will relocate from Seoul to head the U.S. litigation firm's Asia international arbitration practice.
Barnes & Noble Prevails in Nook E-Reader Patent Suit
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : May 15, 2013
An appeals court ruled that Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader doesn't infringe patents owned by Deep9 Corporation. The ruling keeps up a recent hot streak for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represented Barnes & Noble.
Quinn Emanuel Extends Streak with Barnes & Noble Win
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : May 13, 2013
12 Attorneys Follow Birnbaum to Quinn From Skadden
Christine Simmons : New York Law Journal : May 13, 2013
Quinn Emanuel is expecting a group of 12 associates and of counsel from Skadden, following partners Sheila Birnbaum, who left Skadden after 33 years where she was co-leader of the mass torts and insurance litigation group, and Mark Cheffo. Birnbaum is now sharing leadership of Quinn's product liability and mass torts practice with Cheffo.
IN BRIEF: Judicial Slap in Porn Case
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
A federal judge, describing a massive fraud involving the enforcement of copyrights to pornography, has referred four lawyers to licensing authorities for possible misconduct and to federal prosecutors for possible criminal violations of the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Plus more in our weekly roundup of Web-only stories from NLJ.com and other ALM publications.
Composer of Truncated Work Is Permitted to Sue Orchestra
Brendan Pierson : New York Law Journal : May 13, 2013
A composer whose three-act oratorio was cut short by the Brooklyn Philharmonic so the players would not go into overtime can go ahead with a lawsuit against the orchestra, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice David Schmidt has ruled.
VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS
: The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
12 Attorneys Follow Birnbaum to Quinn From Skadden
Christine Simmons : New York Law Journal : May 10, 2013
Two weeks ago, Birnbaum, dubbed the "Queen of Toxic Torts," announced she was leaving Skadden, where she had been for 33 years and where she was coleader of the mass torts and insurance litigation group.
Quinn Emanuel Announces Australia Launch
Brian Baxter : The Asian Lawyer : May 10, 2013
The U.S. litigation firm announced Thursday it will open a Sydney office next month with two partners recruited from Herbert Smith Freehills and one relocated from Los Angeles.
Judge Sides with Apple in iBooks Trademark Case
Victor Li : The Litigation Daily : May 9, 2013
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