 | |
| Headquarters | TCW Tower Los Angeles,California |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 35 |
| No. of attorneys | 1,000+[1] |
| Major practice areas | Litigation only |
| Key people | John Quinn |
| Revenue |  $1.25 billion (2019)[2] |
| Date founded | January 1, 1986; 39 years ago (1986-01-01) |
| 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 is an Americanwhite-shoe law firm[3][4] headquartered inLos Angeles,California. The firm employs approximately 1,000 attorneys throughout 35 offices around the world.[1][5]
The firm was established in 1986[6][7] byJohn B. Quinn, Eric Emanuel, David Quinto, and Phyllis Kupferstein, with the purpose of being a litigation-only firm. In 1988, A. William "Bill" Urquhart decided to join the two-year-old firm, which became Quinn Emanuel & Urquhart,[8] and soon later Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Oliver with the addition of Dale Hugh Oliver.[9] Another name partnerGeorge Hedges was hired in 1998 to increase the firm's Hollywood presence, and the firm was known as Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges for over a decade.[10]
About 35 percent of Quinn attorneys went toYale,Harvard,Stanford,Chicago,New York University, orColumbia law schools.[11] Their 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.
Quinn Emanuel is the firstAmLaw 100 firm to have a female name partner.[12][13] The firm changed its name in March 2010 to includeKathleen Sullivan, former Dean of Stanford Law School, who heads the firm's appellate practice.[14][15][16]
In 2014, the firm was the subject of aFreedom of Information Act request byMicrosoft, in connection with a contract it had supposedly signed with theIRS.[17]
Intellectual property litigation is the firm’s largest practice area and the firm currently has over 200 lawyers who litigate IP cases.[18] Quinn Emanuel represented the Winklevoss twins' social network,ConnectU, in its lawsuit that accusedFacebook founderMark 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.[19]
In 2024, as part of theSean Combs sexual misconduct allegations,Tony Buzbee filed a lawsuit againstJay-Z's companyRoc Nation, Quinn Emanuel—which employs Carter's attorneys—and others, claiming that these parties were attempting to sway his clients into suing him and his firm, the Buzbee Law Firm.[20] According to Buzbee, Roc Nation paid off some of his former clients to file bogus lawsuits, while Quinn Emanuel orchestrated the scheme.[21][20] Buzbee stated that he had, among other things, audio tapes proving his allegation against Roc Nation and Quinn Emanuel, and would provide the tapes as evidence.[20]
The firm's largest office, by number of attorneys, isNew York City. Beginning in 2007, Quinn Emanuel expanded internationally by opening its first foreign office inTokyo. A year later, the firm expanded toLondon, thenChicago in 2009,Mannheim, Germany in 2010,Moscow in 2011, andHamburg in 2012.[22] On September 1, 2011,Washington, D.C.'sLegal Times Blog announced that the firm was opening its first office in the nation's capital. In 2013, the firm opened offices inParis,Munich,Hong Kong, andSydney, and, in 2014, it opened offices inBrussels andHouston office.LegalWeek reported that Quinn Emanuel opened an office inSeattle in 2015.[23] Other offices of the firm are located inAtlanta,Beijing,San Francisco,Silicon Valley,Stuttgart,Perth,Shanghai andZürich.[24][5]