Biglaw, Billable Hours, Cheapness, john quinn, Litigators, Money, Partner Issues

Wherein We Hear From john quinn of Quinn Emanuel

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For whatever reason, Quinn Emanuel — the highly prestigious, super-profitable litigation powerhouse, with offices in California and New York — has received a disproportionate amount of coverage here at ATL. As we previously wrote, “we have a lot of tipsters over there. It seems that QE associates love to talk about their firm, for good or ill.”

And it’s not just associates. Last night we received an email from John Quinn, the “legal titan” and “known litigation genius” who founded Quinn Emanuel. In his long and detailed email, Mr. Quinn addresses several of the criticisms of QE that have surfaced on ATL. This was our favorite part:

it has been suggested that i do not use capital letters in my typing in an effort to be “cool.” i am not cool; wish i was, but after 56 years i don’t think it is going to happen. the fact is i am not coordinated enough to hit the shift button with one hand and a letter with the other.

Check out his complete email — in which he addresses a whole host of topics, including billables, bonuses, partnership decisions, partner compensation, and even office supplies — after the jump.

We thank John Quinn for taking the time to compose and send in this highly informative and thoughtful email. No senior partner at a top firm has ever sent in such a detailed response to criticisms of his or her firm on ATL.

As one of the firm’s defenders previously noted in these pages, Quinn Emanuel is committed to “open and honest communication.” Such transparency is commendable. It suggests that the firm has little to hide, and much to be proud of. We wish that more leading law firms were as transparent and accessible as Quinn.

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EMAIL MESSAGE FROM JOHN B. QUINN OF QUINN EMANUEL TO ABOVE THE LAW

someone called my attention to the postings on this site and i wanted to respond to some of them. we love our firm and what the lawyers at our firm have accomplished. we welcome discussion about us, but we want people to have accurate information.

it has been suggested that i do not use capital letters in my typing in an effort to be “cool.” i am not cool; wish i was, but after 56 years i don’t think it is going to happen. the fact is i am not coordinated enough to hit the shift button with one hand and a letter with the other.

some thought it was unfair that the bonus cut offs were determined at the end of the year (or that there were bonus cutoffs at all). we have in fact tried calculating bonuses different ways, including paying everyone the same bonus. it did not seem fair to us, or to many associates, to pay the same bonus to an associate who worked 1900 or 2000 hours as one who worked hundreds more. for that reason, we draw distinctions. in the past it has been our practice to determine cutoffs at the end of the year. it is clear that this was very unpopular with some associates this year. so – this year, for the first time, we will announce what the cutoffs are before the end of this month. as i have also said, i do believe that the associates who joined us as laterals had a legitimate gripe the way their bonuses were calculated and we are going to redo the calculations.

it has been said that we are “cheap.” maybe we are; i would like to think thrifty is a better word. we try to spend money on the things that help win cases. our furniture, for example, is (i hope) tasteful but i’m sure you can find better and more expensive furniture at many other places. in los angeles on the 10th floor we do not even have a ceiling – the pipes are all exposed. most people seem to like it that way. it is probably true that those who seek the trappings of a traditional “wall street” firm would be disappointed by some things at our firm. we are not for everybody, i am sure. i will say that we are not adverse to spending money on good parties!

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there have been complaints about desks without drawers, office supplies, bulletin boards, and late expense checks. i really cannot believe that someone got a desk without drawers. if this is true, i would like to know about it. when it comes to office supplies, i likewise do not know what is referred to. i have talked to peter calamari (the managing partner of our new york office for you non-qe’ers) and he does not know what is referred to either. anyone who has difficulty getting office supplies should let dave henri in la know. checks to reimburse expense reports are cut twice per month. anyone who is not reimbursed within 15 days of submitting an expense report should tell dave henri.

one person is adamant that quinn emanuel does not pay the “top rate” in new york. any associate who billed 2100 hours at our firm last year made as much as anyone at any major firm in new york, so far as i am aware (with the possible exception of wachtell). obviously i am taking into account the full special bonus – which less than 10 firms in the universe paid – qe being the only such firm based outside nyc – and in which qe raised cravath $5k – half of which will be paid in june. it is true that those who billed less than 2100 hours did not receive a full bonus and those who billed less than 1900 hours received no bonus at all. if that is what is referred to, we plead guilty.

one other possible exception is for some senior associates and of counsel. associates at our firm are up for partner after six years. we try to compensate associates and of counsel more than six years out of law school based on our assessment of their contribution to the firm. the compensation for such people ranges quite a bit. so, as to those senior people, we do not necessarily pay “scale.”

some said that the only reason we were able to make all eight associates partner who were up this year is because we told some to withdraw their names. so far as i am aware, this did not happen. no doubt some associates assessed their chances and decided to withdraw their names or to postpone their candidacy. we try to avoid the indignity of an associate coming up for partner and being passed over. in the past, associates have withdrawn their names in one year, only to make it in a later year. that we were able to make eight out of eight this year shows that our system works. we are really proud of these fantastic young partners.

someone said i was a “dictator.” in the context of a law firm i am not sure what that means. if you make the right decisions about who you practice law with, lawyers do not need to be governed; you just need to see that they have adequate help and stay out of their way. at our firm we have very little governance. we have only one committee (the contingent fee committee). the partners only meet to elect new partners. for matters such as recruiting or real estate, where someone needs to be in charge, we designate someone and let them do the job. we have probably two dozen partners who joined us laterally from other firms. none of them miss committee or partnership meetings. they love it here. and, anyone who knows our partners knows they are not the kind of people who can be “dictated” to.

i do have a central role in determining partner compensation. i solicit input from all partners, publish a proposed distribution schedule and then work out any differences (never more than three or four) with the partners who have issues (and i generally find that they are right – that i have overlooked something). i do not know if this is the best system, but it works. recently, the partnership voted, using a website that permits anonymous voting, to determine whether we should continue deciding compensation this way or whether we should investigate alternatives. only 6 partners voted to examine other methods. so – as long as my partners want me to continue doing what i am doing, i will. when they do not want me to, we will try something else. but the fact is our system has worked. we have never had any controversy among our partners about compensation. i do not know another firm anywhere that can say that.

there has also been speculation about whether we have adopted a “two-tier, non-equity” partnership. the answer is we have not. all partners in our firm sign the very same partnership agreement which has the exact same terms that apply equally to all of them. the partnership agreement makes no distinction at all among partners. all partners have one vote. what may be referred to is our recent decision to give partners in their first three years guarantees (which are a minimum, not a maximum) of what they will make. this has always been true for first year partners. we recently extended it to the second and third years.

i’m not a blogger and don’t expect to become one, but it is interesting to look in and respond. for those interested in the firm, the information on the qe web site is meant seriously. we are obviously very proud of our firm. we believe that the emergence of our firm as a major player in the business litigation world over the last years is – dare i say it – unparalleled and transformative. our verdicts speak for themselves. no firm tries as many business cases as we do or wins as many. and, we have no intention of letting up.

John B. Quinn
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP
865 South Figueroa Street, 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017

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