Quinn Emanuel Surpasses $2 Billion in Revenue in ‘Historic’ Year

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan last year surpassed $2 billion in revenue for the first time, as the Big Law litigation shop saw a boost in fees from clients settling and winning cases.

The Los Angeles-founded firm’s $2.1 billion in revenue marked a 28% increase from 2022, Michael Carlinsky, Quinn Emanuel’s co-managing partner, said in an interview. The firm collected more than $1.6 billion in revenue in 2022, according to The American Lawyer.

“Last year was really extraordinary in how successful we were,” Carlinsky said, calling the results “historic” for the firm.

Quinn Emanuel, one of the largest litigation-only firms in the world, is known for taking on high profile cases. The firm’s fee income rose 26% in 2023, as Quinn boosted its revenue with more full-time lawyers working, Carlinsky said. The firm’s full-time lawyer headcount rose 12% to 1,050.

Carlinsky, who also serves as the global head of Quinn Emanuel’s complex litigation and chair of insurance litigation, credits the firm’s brand and reputation for litigation as driving the results. “We really have lawyers who are busy and handling the best, the biggest and most important cases for our clients,” he said.

Last year, General Motors Co.-owned Cruise LLC, a robotaxi company that suspended its service after an accident in October, tapped the firm to conduct an internal investigation that put much of the blame on Cruise’s senior leadership.

The firm on Jan. 31 filed a complaint against Iran on behalf of more than 60 US citizens and their family members who were killed, injured or taken hostage in the Hamas attack on Israel.

The University of Tennessee recently retained Quinn Emanuel’s global co-managing partner William Burck, Quinn Emanuel, Quinn Emanuel to represent the school in a lawsuit challenging the regulatory authority of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Quinn partner Alex Spiro, a longtime outside lawyer to billionaire Elon Musk, is aiding WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann in a potential bid to acquire the co-working company out of bankruptcy.

Michael Carlinksy

“We are off to a great start” and 2024 can be “as good if not better than 2023,” Carlinsky said, as the firm looks to increase its headcount by another 10%.

Quinn Emanuel looks to add both to its existing practice areas, such as restructuring and bankruptcy, as well as in its antitrust and white collar group, he said. The firm added restructuring partner David Ereira from Paul Hastings’ London office last month.

As artificial intelligence and data issues arise, the firm will look to add bench strength in the technology space as well as biologics, Carlinsky said.

Opportunistic Growth

The firm named Carlinsky and Burck as co-managing partners in May 2022, when co-founder and longtime managing partner John Quinn transitioned to the role of chair.

Carlinsky and Burck since then have looked at areas where the firm should be investing or opening a new office. That led to a string of office openings over the last 12 months.

Quinn Emanuel opened an office in Beijing in May, then announced a pair of openings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September. A month later, the firm announced plans to open an office in Singapore.

The firm also signed a 132,000 square-foot lease in New York’s Midtown South Textile Building in November, where it will build out an office to match its work-from-anywhere policy.

The firm last month announced it would be opening an office in Wilmington, Delaware with the addition of Michael Barlow, former chief of staff to former Delaware Gov. Hack Markell (D).

“We either spot an opportunity or an opportunity presents itself,” Carlinsky said. “We’re nimble and we’re decisive, and we can seize upon it.”