Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP

Overview

Quinn Emanuel is a global, litigation-focused firm built around trial work: it expressly takes cases to trial and positions itself as a firm where junior lawyers get substantive courtroom responsibility early. The firm is US-headquartered with an international platform of offices across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is frequently brought in on high-stakes, bet-the-company matters (including complex cross-border arbitration and bankruptcy work). The culture is meritocratic and flat, emphasising practical advocacy skills, partner-led trial training and mobility across offices.

Headquarters: Los Angeles, 865 S. Figueroa St.
Lawyers: 1300+
Offices: 33

Values & Culture

Practice Areas

Dispute Resolution & Litigation
International Arbitration
Competition & Antitrust
Intellectual Property
Banking & Finance
Insolvency & Restructuring
ESG & Sustainability
Environment & Planning
White Collar Crime
Financial Services & Regulation
Fraud & Investigations
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Technology & Digital
Real Estate
Employment
Insurance & Reinsurance
Corporate & M&A
Transport & Logistics
Tax
Media & Entertainment

Geographic Focus: A genuinely global disputes platform with deep strength in the United States and major hubs in London, continental Europe (Brussels, Germany, Paris, Zurich), Asia (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo), the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh) and Australia (Sydney). The firm coordinates multi-jurisdictional litigation and arbitrations from its integrated global network of offices and routinely handles parallel proceedings across jurisdictions.

Training Contract

Starting Salary: $225,000 (base compensation for entry-level associates as of January, 2025)

Sponsorship

The firm reimburses associates for reasonable moving expenses, bar application and examination fees and one bar study course. (U.S. associates only — firm also offers a clerkship bonus structure for qualifying federal judicial clerks.)

International Opportunities

Global Experience program: eligible associates may receive $4,000 to travel to any location of their choosing for one week as part of small multi-office travel groups (6-10 members) while working a full Monday–Friday week with 24/7 connectivity. Global Exchange program: eligible associates can work from another Quinn Emanuel office for two weeks and receive up to $5,000 toward travel and living expenses.

Mentorship

Partner-led training and mentorship is central: partners teach in-house Basic and Advanced Trial Advocacy courses, Deposition Skills and the IP Academy; associates receive direct partner feedback on hearings, depositions and trials and work closely with partner teams (including the Additional Associate in Trial placements).

Programmes & Schemes

Summer Programme

A U.S. summer associate programme designed to replicate life as an associate: participants work on real case assignments (motions, depositions, trials), attend client meetings and have at least one assignment in an area of their choosing. The programme includes partner mentorship, a mock trial and a range of social and firm-wide events (office-specific events and firm-wide activities such as the Rose Bowl party and the annual firm hike).

Duration: 10 weeks
Places: 76 (2025 summer associate class)

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Notable Matters

Representation of Changpeng Zhao / Binance — Resolution and enforcement work

Led sentencing advocacy and counsel work in the historic resolution of Department of Justice investigations (a $4.3 billion resolution) and related SEC proceedings; obtained a four-month sentence for a client where the government sought three years, and achieved a complete voluntary dismissal by the SEC in a related enforcement matter in 2025. The team combined white-collar, regulatory and trial expertise across multiple forums.

White Collar Crime

Ripple Labs — defence in Delaware litigation (Tetragon dispute)

Defended Ripple Labs and secured complete defeat of a $175 million claim brought by Tetragon Financial Group in Delaware Chancery Court; motions practice and summary judgment work resulting in denial of preliminary injunction and favourable fee awards to the client.

Dispute Resolution & Litigation

BitGo v. Galaxy — Delaware Supreme Court reversal in $1.2 billion merger dispute

Obtained a reversal from the Delaware Supreme Court of the Chancery Court’s dismissal in a $1.2 billion crypto merger dispute, preserving substantial merger-related claims and setting important precedent around merger agreement interpretation.

Dispute Resolution & Litigation

Special Counsel to the FTX Debtors — bankruptcy recoveries

Served as special counsel to the FTX bankruptcy debtors in the largest crypto bankruptcy, conducting extensive investigatory and litigation work that has recovered and returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the estate and pursuing numerous high-value claims on behalf of the estate.

Insolvency & Restructuring

Tariff Refund Task Force — IEEPA tariff refund litigation and strategy

Assembled a task force to advise and litigate on tariff refund rights following the U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidating IEEPA-based tariffs; advising clients on potential recovery routes, filing and coordinating litigation in the Court of International Trade, and providing regulatory and appellate strategy.

Regulatory & Compliance

Zacarias v. Aranda’s Apparel, Corp. — plaintiff-side wage victory (pro bono)

Represented a garment worker before the California Labor Commissioner and obtained a judgment of $392,595.15 for unpaid wages — highlighted as one of the largest garment victories by co-counsel and an example of pro bono trial work that gives associates courtroom experience.

Employment

What Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP Looks For

Key Competencies

Trial aptitude and courtroom advocacy skills
Commercial awareness and practical problem solving
Resilience and comfort with high-stakes pressure
Teamwork and collaborative mindset
Strong written advocacy and research ability
Ethical judgment and professional integrity
Intellectual curiosity and creativity in litigation strategy

Evidence Signals

Clerkships or litigation internships (federal clerkships noted with specific clerkship bonuses)
Hands-on litigation experience (mooting, trial advocacy, mock trial experience)
Substantive pro bono or real-case experience (depositions, hearings, trial assistance)
Strong law-school performance and relevant course experience (trial advocacy/NITA-style training)
Exposure to cross-border litigation or secondment/ international study

Benefits & Wellbeing

$225,000 base compensation for entry-level associates (as of January 2025)
Federal judicial clerkship bonus: $175,000 for one qualifying clerkship; additional $25,000 after two qualifying clerkships
Reimbursement for reasonable moving expenses, bar application and examination fees and one bar study course
Unlimited vacation for U.S. associates (subject to case and business needs)
Firm-paid life insurance and long-term disability
Firm-paid 100% of employee premium and 50% of dependent coverage for health insurance (HMO and Open Access Plus/Out of Network Plan); domestic partner coverage available
401(k) plan eligibility after six months and firm profit-sharing contributions (subject to firm profitability and eligibility rules)
Technology stipends: firm-managed personal laptop; up to $150 toward cell phone purchase; up to $50/month toward data plan
Discount programmes with Dell and Verizon
Free membership to local Equinox gyms (taxable fringe benefit)
Global Experience and Global Exchange travel subsidies (up to $4,000 and $5,000 respectively)
Family building benefit: loan up to $75,000 (forgivable after 12 months) toward infertility services
LGBTQ+ benefits including medical coverage for same-sex spouses/domestic partners and coverage for gender-affirming care and HIV/AIDS care (PrEP, PEP)
Pro bono: up to 100 pro bono hours can be counted towards billable-hours-based bonuses

Wellbeing

Access to gym membership (Equinox), family-building support, travel and social programmes, partner/associate social events, and structured partner-led training that includes mentorship and feedback. (No dedicated EAP explicitly listed on the pages provided.)

Awards & Recognition

Third Most Profitable Law Firm in the World By Profits Per Equity Partner (The American Lawyer, 2025)
52 Quinn Emanuel lawyers listed in Lawdragon's 2026 '500 Leading Global Litigators' (Firm announcement, 2026)
Chambers rankings and repeated recognition across global practice areas (multiple years noted on firm news pages)
Firm recognised in Chambers Crisis & Risk Management 2024 for ESG and Crisis Management (ranked)
Firm achievements and Band 1 recognition in Chambers Global Africa Dispute Resolution (three consecutive years noted)

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The firm highlights inclusion and recruiting/retaining lawyers of every background and perspective and states that inclusion improves trial work and firm culture. The Quinn Emanuel Foundation (QEF) distributes charitable grants and the firm supports a wide range of philanthropic causes globally.

Women Rise To The Top
We Value Inclusion
Longstanding pro bono relationships (Bet Tzedek, Harvard Law School's Criminal Justice Institute, Public Counsel, Alliance for Children's Rights)
QE Foundation charitable giving and community programmes

Pro Bono

Quinn Emanuel counts up to 100 pro bono hours toward billable-hours-based bonuses, encourages associates to initiate pro bono projects with partner sponsorship, and maintains longstanding pro bono relationships with organisations including Bet Tzedek, Harvard Law School's Criminal Justice Institute, Public Counsel and the Alliance for Children's Rights. Notable pro bono results include Zacarias v. Aranda’s Apparel, Corp., et al. (judgment of $392,595.15) and successful representations securing releases and reunifications in refugee matters.

Innovation

The firm supports technology for individual attorneys (firm-managed laptops, phone/data allowances) and invests in cross-office programmes that combine work and travel to foster collaboration. The website highlights programme-driven innovation in practice (e.g., integrated global teams for cross-border digital asset, ESG and complex litigation) but does not list proprietary legal-tech products by name on the pages provided.

Technology stipend and firm-managed hardware for associates
Artist-In-Residence programme (expanded to Silicon Valley)
Global Exchange/Global Experience as part of cross-office collaboration and knowledge transfer

Quick Application Angles

Lead with trial-focused evidence in applications: cite any courtroom, deposition or mock-trial experience and explain how it prepared you to take on early in-court responsibility — the firm emphasises early courtroom roles (Additional Associate in Trial).
Reference recent high-profile work where relevant (for example, crypto/FTX/BitGo/Binance matters) to show commercial and technical awareness of litigation trends that matter to the firm.
Demonstrate partner-ready written advocacy: the firm stresses perfection in written work product and wins many cases on motions and summary judgment, so attach or describe strong examples of drafting and legal research.
Show global mobility and teamwork: mention international experience or language skills and an interest in the Global Exchange/Global Experience programmes to align with the firm’s integrated multi-office model.