John B. Quinn

Los Angeles

Practice: business litigation

Specialty: antitrust and trade regulation, domestic and international arbitration and mediation, intellectual property, banking/financial institution, entertainment/media, government contracts and real estate litigation

Quinn Emanuel, with more than 450 lawyers in eight offices on three continents, has not only managed to survive, where other firms have fallen, but thrived, reporting profits per partner exceeding $3 million, and revenues that have grown from $194 million in 2005 to $550 million and rising.

"I think it has a lot to do with our unique business model and focus in that we only claim to do one thing - that's litigation work," said Quinn, the firm's founding and managing partner.

The focus is on what he calls a variety of "very high-end business litigation."

"It's a very specialized practice where, in the cases we work on, there's a lot at stake," Quinn said. "So, we're able to bill and collect for what we do."

Add to that, he said, a staff of lawyers who may bill their hours but don't spend their time watching the clock.

"Nobody leaves at 5 o'clock," he said. "People work a lot of hours. Law practices at the highest levels - it's a very, very labor-intensive activity. You can't try cases, you can't prepare cases for trial working 9 to 5. So, it's a lot of people working very, very hard."

Quinn has been doing just that. As lead counsel, he's been mired in a months-long, high-stakes civil trial on behalf of his client, Trust Co. of the West. Trust Co. of the West v. Gundlach, BC429385, (L.A. Super. Ct., Jan. 7, 2010).

Last year, TCW filed suit, alleging seven causes of action, including that the defendants, while employed by the company, conspired to and stole substantial amounts of proprietary and confidential information to be used at a new company, DoubleLine Capital LP, that allegedly had been secretly formed to compete with TCW.

Megamillions are at stake, and it may come down to which side's damages experts are more believable - an element that has been at the forefront of the ongoing trial.

Quinn also has been involved in another headline-grabbing matter - the meltdown of the once mighty Lehman Brothers. In re Lehman Brothers, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, (S.D. N.Y.).

- PAT BRODERICK AND CIARAN MCEVOY