John B. Quinn, 58

Business litigation

For five years, Quinn has been battling on behalf of Mattel Inc. against rival MGA Entertainment Inc. over rights to MGA’s billion-dollar Bratz doll line. Quinn has racked up several victories, including persuading a jury that a former Mattel designer improperly helped MGA come up with Bratz and getting the panel to award his client $100 million in damages. He also convinced a judge this year to bar MGA from making Bratz in the future and to award key elements of the brand to Mattel. MGA is appealing. Quinn now is prepping for a second trial phase, in which Mattel will argue that MGA stole trade secrets, and he’ll defend his client against MGA claims that Mattel made dolls that infringed on Bratz. Quinn also secured a $100 million settlement this year for the bankruptcy trustee of Italian food and dairy giant Parmalat against Bank of America, alleging the bank contributed to fraud that led to the company’s 2003 collapse.