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Described by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as a "legal titan", and by Chambers as a "known litigation genius", John Quinn is one of the most prominent business trial lawyers in the United States. As Chambers puts it in their 2007 guide to U.S. lawyers and law firms: "'Tough guy' John Quinn is 'confident and quick' say clients.  Opponents acknowledge his 'convincing courtroom demeanor' and one even named him 'literally the best I have ever faced in the past half dozen years.'"  This sentiment echoed The American Lawyer's 2006 feature article, which described the AmLaw 100 firm that Mr. Quinn built from scratch as "Better. Faster. Tougher. Scarier".  "The Mighty Quinn, John Quinn Is in Better Shape Than You Are. Now He Wants to Eat Your Lunch", The American Lawyer, 2006.  Or, as further summed up by his clients in Chambers--"there is no other".

Mr. Quinn has been named "One of the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers" by Euromoney Institutional Investor; "One of California's Leading Litigators" by Chambers; "One of the Top 3 Trial Lawyers of Choice by General Counsel in California" by California Law Business; one of the "Outstanding Trial Lawyers of America," by Chambers U.S.A., in 2003 and 2004; "One of the Top 15 Litigators in California" by The Los Angeles Daily Journal; "One of the Top 45 Lawyers Under the Age of 45 in the United States" by The American Lawyer (when he was under 45); "One of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in California" by California Law Business, 2000, 2001 (one of 9 business litigators so named); and a "Super Lawyer" by Los Angeles Magazine.  In 2003 he won the largest jury verdict awarded to individual plaintiffs (source: AP).  In 2009, he was named "California Attorney of the Year" for "extraordinary achievements" in intellectual property law by The California Lawyer for his work on the highly publicized litigation for Mattel, Inc. over the "Bratz" line of dolls.

Since 1987, Mr. Quinn has also been General Counsel of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that awards the Academy Awards.

Read more about Mr. Quinn in a recent profile by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Represented about two dozen hedge funds, including international funds, grouped under four management entities -- Elliott, Davidson-Kempner, Appalloosa, and Angelo Gordon -- as plaintiff-holders of Yosemite and Enron Credit-Linked (ECLN) Notes in the Yosemite v. Citibank action in the Enron MDL.  The noteholders asserted fraudulent transfer claims against Citibank and collectively sought in excess of $1.4 billion on those claims.  With Citibank's motion for summary judgment pending, Citibank and Enron agreed to a joint settlement and our clients will receive in excess of $2.1 billion in payments from the Enron bankruptcy estate.

Defending a former director of Peregrine Systems, Inc. against claims by putative classes of federal plaintiffs, two state-court lawsuits by groups of investors, and claims by the Peregrine Litigation Trust, which is seeking in excess of $2 billion from Peregrine's directors, officers, and others. (A dozen insiders have already either pleaded guilty or been indicted in connection with these claims.)  We obtained a complete dismissal, with prejudice in the largest active case in this series of litigation.  The action had been pending for more than three years, and we never let plaintiffs progress beyond the pleading stage.

Representing Dr. Enrico Bondi, Extraordinary Commissioner of Parmalat S.P.A., in three separate $10 billion lawsuits arising out of the largest bankruptcy in European history ("Europe's Enron") -- against Grant Thornton, Bank of America, and Citigroup, for aiding and abetting Parmalat's insiders in the commission of massive fraud and for auditor malfeasance.  The firm recently obtained a $150 million settlement from Deloitte & Touche.

Represented Occidental Petroleum and won a jury verdict establishing liability in an insurance coverage case regarding business interruption losses sustained from over two hundred terrorist bombings of an oil pipeline in Colombia. The case settled for nine figures before the damages phase of the trial.

Represented Genentech when a leading university demanded that Genentech license its “new” patent on co-transformation, a widely used recombinant DNA technique for producing protein in a host cell.  Genentech sued the university for obviousness-type double patenting.  With a summary judgment motion looming, the university filed a broad covenant not to sue Genentech for past, current or future infringement of the “new” patent or any reissued patent with the same or similar claims.

Represented two German nationals who moved to Santa Barbara and sued media giant Bertelsmann AG and its former CEO. While working for Bertelsmann, these former executives had been the driving force behind the creation and development of AOL Europe, a joint venture between Bertelsmann and AOL. When Bertelsmann sold its interest in AOL Europe for $6.75 billion, it refused to compensate plaintiffs. They asserted claims for breach of contract and breach of partnership agreement, among others. He obtained a $295 million verdict. It was the seventh largest jury verdict in the nation that year.

Represented General Motors in a case against Volkswagen and GM’s former head of sourcing in Detroit for stealing secret GM documents. Working closely with inside lawyers from GM, he amassed devastating evidence and defeated all Volkswagen’s jurisdictional and substantive motions. On the eve of the Volkswagen chairman’s deposition, he obtained a $1.1 billion settlement for General Motors. 

Represented Avery Dennison Corporation and obtained an $80 million jury verdict for in a theft and trade secret case against a Taiwanese competitor and its chairman.

Represented an aerospace company in the retrial of a tortious interference suit brought against it in which the plaintiff had won $15 million in the previous trial and had rejected a $1 million settlement offer before the second trial.