The Legal 500

Within Patent litigation: full coverage, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a second tier firm,

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is an ‘outstanding’ litigation firm of ‘real trial lawyers’ that has built a strong reputation for patent litigation. Trial lawyer and IP co-chair Charles Verhoeven represented Google in its first patent infringement jury trial win, successfully defending a $600m damages claim by patent holding company Function Media regarding internet advertising-related patent infringement.The jury ruled non-infringement by Google and found Function Media’s patent to be invalid. This was one of three successes for Verhoeven on behalf of Google as defendant in Eastern Texas cases. He also successfully led alongside Victoria Maroulis for Cisco as defendant in a case brought by ESN LLC regarding integrated service routers. Edward DeFranco was part of a team that obtained a non-infringement decision for Gibson Guitar regarding the Guitar Hero video game of Activision, the plaintiff. Brian Cannon is rated for his in-depth legal knowledge and effectiveness in building a successful defense, and advised Roche in district and federal hearings against Stanford University regarding HIV testing kits. Peter Armenio joined from Kirkland & Ellis LLP in 2010, and obtained favorable rulings for Lundbeck, Forest Laboratories and American Express against multimillion-dollar infringement allegations. Co-chair Claude Stern and business trial lawyer John Quinn are also recommended.

Within Patent litigation: International Trade Commission, tier 4

Commercial litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP has a strong team of patent trial lawyers, and although not as highly specialised in cases before the ITC as some other firms, it has been active for some well-known global entities the hi-tech and electronics sectors. The practice is representing HTC Corporation and Motorola in separate cases against Apple, the former as respondent and the latter as complainant in multiple patent infringement allegations. It also advised Sony in two separate investigations, one as complainant and the other as respondent, against leading Taiwanese LCD panel maker Chimei Innolux. Notable attorneys include IP co-chair Charles Verhoeven, who has extensive litigation experience, patent litigation specialist David Nelson, and Edward DeFranco, who has notable technical expertise.

Within Leading trial lawyers,

John Quinn, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP: Having co-founded the firm in 1986, John Quinn has helped it become the 450+ lawyer, litigation-only behemoth that it is today. The success of the firm as a whole has been matched by Quinn’s success in the courtroom, as well as his reputation among his peers, who consider him to be among ‘the very best’ trial lawyers in the country. This was illustrated in the recent victory that the Barbie doll manufacturer, and Quinn client, Mattel had over MGA, which manufactured the competing Bratz doll line. After the six-week trial, Quinn won a unanimous jury verdict which found that Carter Bryant, the Bratz designer and creator, had effectively created the Bratz dolls while he was still a Mattel employee. Mattel was awarded over $100m in damages, while MGA was prohibited from the further manufacture and sale of the infringing products. All worldwide rights to the Bratz trademark were also transferred to Mattel. During an interlocutory appeal, which the firm wasn’t involved in, a retrial was ordered for 2011, which Quinn will once again be leading. Another recent highlight was obtaining a $296.3m verdict from a California jury on behalf of his clients Jan Hendric Buettner and Andreas von Blottnitz, in an all-German (yet California-based) dispute with Bertelsmann over the profits from the sale of their internet business to AOL.

Within Mass tort and class action: plaintiff representation – antitrust, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a third tier firm,

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is well renowned for its trial work across the US and although it is perhaps better recognized for its work on the defense side, the firm has gained traction representing plaintiffs in antitrust class actions. The practice has been appointed co-lead counsel alongside Hausfeld LLP in In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Litigation in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, in which plaintiffs allege the defendants – Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation – conspired to artificially raise fuel surcharge prices. The team defeated a motion to dismiss the class action. The group has also been appointed co-lead counsel alongside several other firms in In re Processed Egg Products Antitrust Litigation. Stephen Neuwirth heads the practice.

Within Supreme Court and appellate, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a third tier firm,

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP has made a very good name for itself in US Supreme Court and appellate matters, not least through the ‘excellent’ Kathleen Sullivan, who is ‘a top-notch litigator’. Daniel Bromberg, Sandy Weisburst, Susan Estrich and Charles Verhoeven are also recommended. In the US Supreme Court, Sullivan and Bromberg achieved a victory for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), after the Court held unanimously that ocean carriers such as K Line are not subject to the Carmack Amendment, which governs domestic rail and motor carrier transportation, when they provide intermodal “through” transportation. Another major result came in the Second Circuit, which unanimously reversed a district court’s dismissal of claims to the Stolichnaya vodka trade mark by the firm’s client, Federal Treasury Enterprise Sojuzplodoimport, which is an agency of the Russian Federation.

Within Trade secrets, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a first tier firm,

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP’s lawyers ‘are reputable, credible and have a deep trade secrets bench’. They ‘work hard and get good results’, and provide ‘great customer service, deep industry expertise, and a strong team – expensive but good value’. Having secured the rights to Bratz dolls in 2009 for Mattel in litigation over appropriation of the designs by MGA Entertainment, a retrial was ordered on appeal, bringing the team, headed by John Quinn and Michael Zeller, back into the fray this year. Packed with some 450 trial lawyers, 40% of whom are engaged in IP matters, the firm has a fearsome reputation in the courts and has represented General Motors, Shell, Motorola, Disney, and easyJet Airlines. Recent cases have included acting for Invista in relation to the unauthorised use of a chemical processing system; for IBM in relation to the licensing of mainframe system technology; and for Trust Company of the West in a suit for $200m damages and relief against a former employee who had allegedly misappropriated client and proprietary information. The ‘outstanding’ David Quinto is a published trade secrets expert.

Within White-collar criminal defense , tier 8

Specialist litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is ‘exceptional in its ability to defend and protect’ corporates and individuals in every stage of the criminal process – investigation, post-indictment, trial and appeal. Peopled by a raft of former federal prosecutors on both the East and West Coast, the firm is ‘very familiar with the social aspects of the area including those factors internally with the government’. This credibility before the regulators coupled with the firm’s trial ethos and the ability to draw upon substantive experts in the field, ensures that clients are well served across the white-collar landscape including securities fraud, healthcare fraud and criminal antitrust. Led by the ‘truly exceptional’ John Potter and ‘great trial lawyer and strategist’ Diane Doolittle, the ‘innovative and aggressive’ team successfully persuaded the DOJ to drop narcotics charges against Brodcom co-founder and former CEO Henry Nicholas before trial, arguing that governmental misconduct would unduly influence the fairness of a trial. Co-chair of the white-collar and corporate investigations group James Asperger is a ‘knowledgeable, professional and sharp litigator’, and as part of his broad-ranging practice is representing several clients in numerous issues arising from the current financial crisis including issues relating to mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. Asperger is also an expert in international business crimes issues and is currently serving as a DOJ-appointed monitor of Schnitzer Steel in examining its worldwide anti-corruption policies.