John B. Quinn

Though Quinn made the most headlines this year with his aggressive courtroom tactics fighting for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in the San Jose-version of the worldwide patent battle with Apple Inc., his real accomplishments were masterminding two major areas of growth for his firm.

Though he already manages the largest firm dedicated solely to business litigation in the U.S., Quinn is always looking for new opportunities. This year, he spearheaded his firm's new concentration on international arbitration, hiring some of the top practitioners in the world, said senior partner William Urquhart.

"We think we have a core group in place now in which we can build an elite arbitration practice," Urquhart said. "It's a natural extension of what we do."

Urquhart added, "John identified the talent on his own. He was very much involved in the recruitment of these people and selling the vision of the future, and he obviously did a heck of a job."

Quinn couldn't be reached for comment.

Urquhart said the potential for growth in the international arbitration market is huge because many companies want to do business with entities in countries with emerging economies, like Brazil, India and China. Yet, Urquhart said, those countries don't always have viable court systems.

"We think there's going to be incredible growth in international arbitration," Urquhart said. "It will continue growing until the emerging economies develop reliable court systems."

Quinn Emanuel also expanded its German practice, opening its second office there this year with 24 attorneys, mostly specializing in intellectual property. Urquhart said most patent litigation filed in the European Union is filed in Germany. The attorneys there have helped make the firm more appealing to clients with disputes filed in multiple countries, like those between Samsung and Apple Inc.

"Now we're able to offer an integrated approach that covers both the U.S. and EU," Urquhart said. "That's another concept John came up with himself."

Urquhart said Quinn sees himself as a "nonmanaging manager."

"His belief is to hire really brilliant lawyers both at the associate and partner level and get out of their way and let them practice law," he said. "I think he's also become over the years extremely good at predicting future trends."

- HADLEY ROBINSON