Biglaw

Quinn Emanuel Pulls Off Coup With Big-Time Criminal Defense Hire

A high-profile criminal defense star joins Biglaw.

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Criminal defense attorney Alex Spiro has not suffered for a lack of high-profile clients. He secured an acquittal for Thabo Sefolosha, the NBA player wrongfully arrested and roughed up by the NYPD. He represented rapper Bobby Shmurda on drug and gun charges. He also served on Aaron Hernandez’s defense team and defended Dinesh D’Souza… so not all his clients were as upstanding as Hernandez.

The point is, the Harvard Law grad who found his home in criminal defense work after stints at the CIA and Manhattan DA’s office has built his reputation on representing the white-collar price point in blue-collar situations. In one sense, this places Spiro’s practice at a fascinating intersection. At a time when there’s a lot of focus on the advantages the rich and well-connected receive in the criminal justice system, Spiro’s career often places him at the frontier where wealth smashes headlong into race. Where every benefit of the doubt money can buy with some prosecutors is flipped and becomes a detriment for minorities — like Sefolosha or Shmurda — seen as high-profile trophies for enterprising prosecutors. It’s a unique niche where Spiro stands tall. Last year, a profile of Spiro in The Ringer kicked off with this quote:

“I don’t need this,” Alex Spiro says. “I could try bond trader cases where the bank pays you a million dollars, no one’s gonna argue with you, there’s no drama, no screaming, you try the case, you win, you move on. Or you lose and that’s unfortunate. You get a plea deal – they either take it or [they] don’t.”

Spiro isn’t walking away from his unique practice, but he may add a bond trader or two more to his platter now that he’s leaving Ben Brafman’s firm to join Biglaw litigation heavy Quinn Emanuel. From this morning’s press release:

Managing Partner, John B. Quinn said:  “Experienced white collar criminal trial lawyers are rare commodities in New York.  We think Alex will thrive in firm of trial lawyers like ours.”

William A. Burck, Co-Chair of the firm’s Investigations, Government Enforcement, and White Collar Criminal Defense Practice added:  “Alex is a young superstar in the New York defense bar.  His moxie, toughness and strategic brilliance make him a perfect fit for our firm.”

Alex Spiro commented:  “My experience at the Brafman firm was invaluable and Ben was a great colleague and mentor to me. I just wanted practice law on a more diverse and global stage.  There is literally no firm in the world that could provide me with a better platform than Quinn Emanuel.”

At first blush, a move like this might look like Spiro’s radically reversing course from his Ringer quote — perhaps shifting his practice toward exclusively representing those hypothetical bond traders — but if you thought a change in scenery would change Spiro’s focus on defending high-profile clients facing hard time, you’d be wrong. To talk to Spiro, his excitement about his work is infectious, and he’s not moving to the Biglaw world to do less of the work he’s passionate about. Rather, Quinn’s resources and national reach are giving Spiro more support that he can leverage to expand his practice — taking on all manner of criminal cases from the bond traders to rappers railroaded by the justice system to, I don’t know, serial murdering soccer players (it’s only a matter of time before they find “The Corner Kick Killer.”). If there’s any Biglaw firm that could offer Spiro that opportunity, it’s Quinn Emanuel. Its litigation-centric model provides Spiro all the Biglaw advantages without the downside of having to battle transactional attorneys for resources. Seems like a win-win.

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Congratulations to Alex Spiro and Quinn Emanuel both on this move.

He Who Would Defend Shmurda [The Ringer]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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