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 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
Quinn Emanuel Takes Its Litigation Prowess Down Under
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 9, 2013
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan continues to grow, with its latest move to expand taking it to Australia. The world's largest litigation firm announced Thursday that it will open a Sydney office next month with the addition of Herbert Smith Freehills partners Michael Mills and Michelle Fox. Joining Mills and Fox in the Aussie outpost will be longtime Quinn Emanuel partner James Webster, who is relocating from Los Angeles.
Quinn Emanuel Clears $7 Billion Hurdle for AIG in Bank of America Case
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : May 7, 2013
Google Enters San Jose Smartphone Fight
Vanessa Blum : The Recorder : May 7, 2013
Google Enters Smartphone Fight, Backs Samsung in Apple Fight
Vanessa Blum : The Recorder : May 7, 2013
In an amici curiae brief comparing Apple's bid for a sales ban to "highway robbery," tech companies are urging the Federal Circuit to uphold a lower court decision denying permanent injunctions against Samsung phones and tablets, which use Google's Android software.
K&L Gates
Leigh Jones : The National Law Journal : May 6, 2013
In Second-Chance IP Trials, Counsel on Tight Leash
Vanessa Blum : The Recorder : May 3, 2013
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh doesn't want the Apple/Samsung damages do-over to open any doors.
Philip Morris Aims to Knock Out Medical Monitoring Claims
: The Litigation Daily : May 2, 2013
Shiela Birnbaum may get a chance to show off as the newly-minted co-chief of the mass torts and product liability practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Or maybe not.
Circuit Certifies Questions on Medical Monitoring for Smokers
Mark Hamblett : New York Law Journal : May 2, 2013
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday certified two questions to New York's highest court, asking it for a clear statement on whether it recognizes an independent cause of action for monitoring.
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