Biglaw

Faith Gay Has A Totally Zen Perspective On The John Quinn Email

John Quinn's email didn't pull any punches, but Faith Gay is looking to the future.

By  
on

When Philippe Selendy and Faith Gay announced that they’d be leaving Quinn Emanuel to start Selendy & Gay, it’s safe to say that John Quinn didn’t take it well. And when Gay sent her departure memo to the firm, Quinn replied to all with a scathing rebuke.

Quinn’s email unintentionally laid bare the stress of the business side of building and maintaining a high-stakes legal practice. We spend so much time focusing on good lawyering, we downplay the cold, hard business decisions that go into building a successful practice. And, by extension, we underestimate how devastating a high-profile departure can be — especially if there’s a better than average risk that the departure may result in the poaching of additional talent too.

Despite being on the receiving in of Quinn’s lashing out, Faith Gay seems to understand where Quinn was coming from. In an interview with Jenna Greene in Litigation Daily, Gay addresses the email:

First of all, this is QE’s first experience with a spin-off. I think naturally it would cause some anxiety. It is extremely clear to me that many folks at QE completely understand what we’re doing. They’re entrepreneurial. We’re entrepreneurial. We are working day to day with them on many, many matters, and we intend to continue that and look for opportunities to use them in the future.

In terms of John’s email to us, that is in the past. Our strong feeling is that we did exactly what was required under the Quinn Emanuel partnership agreement, that we were extraordinarily faithful to our former partners and to our clients. We would have had it no other way, because we helped build that practice and we want it to succeed now and in the future.

In other words, she understands why this move would provoke strong feelings, but everyone’s moving on and there’s a big enough pie for Selendy & Gay and Quinn Emanuel to both eat their fill.

In Depth with Selendy and Gay on Their New Firm—and Leaving Quinn Emanuel [Litigation Daily]

Earlier: John Quinn Still Isn’t Happy, But Now He’s Showing A Softer Side
John Quinn Is NOT Happy About Selendy & Gay — And He Sent The Angry Reply All To Prove It
Big-Name Departures From Quinn Emanuel

Sponsored

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.

Sponsored

Topics

, , , ,