Quinn Emanuel Sees M&A, Corporate Case Growth With Delaware Home

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, less than six months after winning a share of $266.7 million in fees from Delaware Chancery Court, has positioned itself for more gains with the opening of its first office in the state.

Merger and acquisition disputes, corporate governance disagreements, post-closing cases and commercial conflicts involving Delaware law “are all natural fits for this office,” Andrew Rossman, chair of the firm’s M&A litigation practice, said in an email.

The firm hired Michael A. Barlow from Abrams & Bayliss to lead the Wilmington office and is looking to hire three to five associates in the near term, Rossman said. Barlow, who was chief of staff for former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, “worked shoulder to shoulder” with Quinn’s litigation team before joining the firm, Rossman said.

The Chancery Court on July 31 awarded the $266.7 million in fees to a team led by lawyers from Quinn Emanuel and Labaton Sucharow. The total, which amounted to 27% of the $1 billion settlement with Dell Technologies Inc.—the largest settlement the court has ever seen—marks the second-largest attorney fee award doled out by the Delaware court.

While Quinn announced the office opening this month, the firm has a lengthy history of battling in cases in the state. Rossman’s profile on his firm’s website touts some of his Chancery Court wins, including the winning of winning two “busted deal” cases—AB Stable v. MAPS Hotels, where he represented the buyer, and Snow Phipps vs. KCAKE Acquisition, where he represented the seller.

The firm is currently litigating other matters in Delaware’s courts. It is representing IT company Soroc Technology Holdings LLC against claims it’s withholding a $3.1 million escrow payment, and leaders of a financial tech company Bolt Financial Inc. that are fighting derivative claims. The firm also deals with bankruptcy matters in Delaware and represents debtor Desolution Holdings LLC.

Barlow has represented AT&T Inc. and a founder who allegedly lied to JPMorgan Chase & Co. before the bank acquired its financial-aid support company.

Still, other elite Big Law litigation firms have outposts in Delaware, and “there is a lot of competition to find the good cases,” said Eric Talley, who teaches corporate law at Columbia Law School in New York.

The Chancery Court in months ahead is likely to see fewer appraisal cases and a continued trickle of Covid-19 related litigation, said Shireen Barday, a partner at New York boutique Pallas. “We’ll continue to see complex commercial cases and some of the leading M&A cases in the country,” she said.

Talley said he also expects the court to see more matters related to contract interpretation for agreements and sees the wave of special purpose acquisition company litigation dying down.