United States (National)

Whether inadvertently or by design (most opinions favor the latter) Quinn Emanuel has developed into the firm virtually all members of the litigation community are talking about; few conversations are had with fellow litigators without the foregone conclusion of Quinn Emanuel’s name being dropped somewhere. The firm has had unparalleled success in building a litigation-only empire that is unrivalled in its size and scope, growing from its Los Angeles roots to make inroads into dozens of other jurisdictions nationally and globally. The firm has also developed a well earned reputation for hard-fought, trial-tested litigation. “If we’re up against someone like Quinn, it’s going to be a much harder fight,” confides a peer. “They take a similarly aggressive, tactical approach.”
     Quinn’s national footprint and bench strength got a significant boost over the past year when its Chicago office, referenced as “quite small” before, lured in a host of partners from another global juggernaut, Kirkland & Ellis, a firm headquartered in Chicago and a name brand in the city. A local peer marvels, “This is MAJOR! Quinn has been trying to establish themselves in the Chicago market – and doing the whole ‘Quinn thing’ of ‘We’re going to move in and dominate’ – for years. And they weren’t failing, but they weren’t wildly succeeding, either. That’s changed now – they took some real heavy hitters from Kirkland, some of their biggest rainmakers! So I suspect we’ll see them a lot more now.” Another elaborates, “Quinn’s play for Chicago was a big one, and it paid off. But to be clear, Quinn remains a national firm, and these people are national. They won’t just be trying cases in Chicago.” The firm is also now a noted player in Wilmington, Delaware. “Quinn has a big pipeline of work coming into Delaware through their network,” confirms a peer. Another concurs, “Quinn has just done a ton down in Delaware. I don’t know exactly who but they’re just always there! They just have a big market share.” Another peer addresses the “who” question: “They got Mike Barlow (formerly with celebrated Delaware boutique Abrams & Bayliss), who is terrific, a solid guy, and has always had a relationship with Quinn even at his former firm. He is outstanding, and he’s probably working around the clock right now, poor guy.” Another peer quips, “I don’t mind Quinn being in Delaware, because they’re going to bring big cases to town!” The firm also benefited from the addition of Michael Swartz, a securities litigator and a particular authority in the crypto space formerly with Schulte Roth & Zabel, to its New York office.
     New York’s Mike Carlinsky has long been one of the most ubiquitous commercial litigation names at Quinn and in the market generally. “We’re always up against Mike Carlinsky,” confirms a frequent opponent. “He is still very prolific.” A team composed of Carlinsky, Chris Kercher, Barlow and DC white-collar star William Burck secured a landmark trial victory for 3D-printing innovator Desktop Metal, obtaining an order of specific performance requiring Nano Dimension to complete its $300 million acquisition, which it agreed to in July 2024, despite an activist investor's attempt to derail the deal upon seizing control of the board in December. Following a two-day trial, Nano was directed to sign the required regulatory agreement within 48 hours and close the transaction. Nano did not appeal, and the $300 million merger closed in April 2025. In another matter, Burck represented Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin in a lawsuit against the IRS regarding the unlawful disclosure to ProPublica of a trove of “Secret IRS Files” that included confidential tax information from thousands of America’s wealthiest taxpayers. From the inception of the case, the IRS refused to take any responsibility for the data breach, initially suggesting that the confidential data was not stolen from the IRS, and even seeking dismissal of the lawsuit by arguing that the data could have come from a “hostile foreign actor.”  The Government sought a stay of discovery, fought subject matter jurisdiction, and moved to dismiss the theory of liability to hold it accountable for the actions of an admitted contractor – all unsuccessfully. Then, as part of the resolution of the case, the IRS issued a rare public apology to Griffin. Carlinsky and Burck have enjoyed long successive runs as two of Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers. A new addition to that list in this edition, New York’s Alex Spiro receives widespread support for his inclusion. “Alex is out there and deserves to be mentioned,” insists a peer. “He is young and brash, and lives for litigation. He gets involved in every celebrity case, which his approach is perfect for. Want to see his book of business? Read the entertainment news!” Spiro has represented actor Alec Baldwin in civil and criminal proceedings related to the accidental shooting of two people on a movie set, for which the State of New Mexico announced criminal charges against Baldwin. Beyond the entertainment sphere, peers attest, "Alex Spiro’s been doing strong work on high-profile sexual misconduct and employment-related cases." Another peer insists, “I want to put in a word for Luke Nikas. Although I had a very contentious relationship with him, I did respect his intellect and his ability to fight hard but also be collegial.”
     Another famed trial lawyer, San Francisco’s William Price led a team that was retained as trial counsel in a high-stakes antitrust case in the Northern District of California. The Quinn Emanuel team parachuted in to try the case with co-counsel at Cohen Millstein just months before trial. After 12 days of trial, a jury reached a unanimous verdict in November 2024 awarding client Pacific Steel Group $110 million. The dispute arose when a Texas-based competitor purchased and shut down California’s only rebar mill, creating a regional monopoly in the rebar market. Pacific Steel planned to disrupt this monopoly by building a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly steel mill using advanced Itechnology.  The competitior allegedly pressured the supplier to block Pacific Steel from accessing the necessary technology by creating a 500-mile radius “exclusivity” zone around the steel mill they bought and shut down.