IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

	Kirkland & Ellis Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Weil Gotshal & Manges
	Davis Polk & Wardwell Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
	Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft Jones Day Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel Latham & Watkins Shearman & Sterling Simpson Thacher & Bartlett White & Case Willkie Farr & Gallagher
	Bingham McCutchen Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Debevoise & Plimpton Dewey & LeBoeuf Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Schulte Roth & Zabel Sidley Austin
	Brown Rudnick Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Morgan Lewis & Bockius Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
	Arnold & Porter Dechert Mayer Brown McDermott Will & Emery Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

A new entry to the rankings this year, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is described by peers as "the next go-to model". The firm is making a name for itself as one of the top choices in the country for bankruptcy litigation, with one rival admitting its attorneys frequently "run circles around" the opposition.... [more]

A new entry to the rankings this year, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is described by peers as "the next go-to model". The firm is making a name for itself as one of the top choices in the country for bankruptcy litigation, with one rival admitting its attorneys frequently "run circles around" the opposition. "They are very serious and respected lawyers," says the competitor. "They are a bomb thrower, but they throw bombs very accurately and very well." Another competitor remarks, "They are doing a lot of creditor-side stuff."

The department was founded in 2007 by litigation partner Susheel Kirpalani, who joined Quinn Emanuel from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, where he was the youngest lawyer ever elected partner. "He's very effective, and everyone loves him," notes a third rival. The department also includes Andrew Rossman, former co-head of litigation at Akin Gump in New York, and high-profile partner Dan Cunningham.

The firm is currently representing Washington Mutual in asserting over $10 billion in avoidance actions against JPMorgan Chase and seeking turnover of more than $4 billion in funds on deposit. The litigation has resulted in a favourable settlement valued by the debtors at $6.1 billion to $6.8 billion. WaMu is legally required to obtain court approval of the settlement, and the trial on the reasonableness of the settlement concluded in December 2010. A decision is expected before the end of 2011.

In a high-profile 2010 case involving difficult issues of first impression, Quinn Emanuel acted as counsel to the creditors' committee in the Chapter 11 cases of Yellow Pages publisher Idearc. The firm represented the committee in litigation with the estates' pre-petition lenders concerning the extent and validity of their alleged security interests in certain intellectual property. The parties ultimately settled and recoveries for unsecured creditors were increased from $5 million to over $160 million.

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