Quinn Emanuel Hires Antitrust Veteran Arquit From Meat Giant JBS

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is bringing on Kevin Arquit as a partner and co-chair of its antitrust and competition practice.

Arquit is a former antitrust practice leader at four other Big Law firms—Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Kasowitz Benson Torres, and Clifford Chance—who spent the past three years as chief legal officer for the US unit of Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer.

JBS has been a “significant client” of Quinn Emanuel, Arquit said in an interview. The law firm’s willingness to take fights to the courtroom, coupled with its ties to JBS, was a difference-maker for him, he said.

The move shows that Quinn Emanuel is eyeing the boom in antitrust actions under President Joe Biden as an opportunity to expand its robust litigation portfolio. Quinn Emanuel, which surpassed $2 billion in gross revenue for the first time in 2023, has been representing JBS and its affiliates—including Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., one of the world’s largest poultry producers—in antitrust cases.

Kevin Arquit

“It’s a busy time—the government agencies have become very litigious recently,” Arquit said. “They’re energized and moving beyond the traditional boundaries of antitrust, so I think there could be some real synergies here.”

Arquit built an in-house legal and compliance team for JBS as the company faced antitrust challenges over its dominance in beef, pork, and poultry markets. Most of the antitrust-related cases that are still pending against JBS and its other entities are private cases with the major government actions having since been resolved, he said.

JBS and Pilgrim’s Pride both hired new compliance chiefs under Arquit’s watch. He was a candidate in 2020 to lead the US Federal Trade Commission during the Trump administration, Politico reported that year.

Arquit credited Quinn co-managing partners Michael Carlinsky and William “Bill” Burck—who took on their leadership roles in 2022—with recruiting him to the firm. He said the new role is the “best of both worlds” in that it gives him the flexibility to continue advising JBS while also having “broader exposure” to assist other clients during an increasingly active time for antitrust enforcement.

JBS said Arquit will continue to support the company in a consulting role going forward. Kimberly Pryor, who had reported to Arquit in her role as US general counsel, will now report to Wesley Batista Filho, its North American chief executive. Pryor has spent nearly a dozen years at JBS.