Burck and Carlinsky on Running Quinn Emanuel, Investing in AI, and Racing Toward $3 Billion in Revenue

Quinn Emanuel, embarking on a dynamic new chapter, is on track to exceed its $3 billion revenue goal and its target of $10 million in profits per equity partner this year, its leaders said in a wide-ranging interview that also touched on the law firm’s investment in both talent and AI.

Co-Managing Partners Bill Burck and Michael Carlinsky recently sat down with Law.com to sketch out their vision for the firm in an intensely competitive market. In an article published Tuesday, they said they are investing in top talent and technology to stay ahead as the global leader in business litigation and arbitration.

The pair, who continue to practice actively while managing about 1,300 attorneys, are shaping a new plan for firm management now that Chairman and Founding Partner John B. Quinn has stepped back from his Executive Committee role. Quinn is focused on his law practice and on expanding the firm’s work around the world, in addition to representing Quinn Emanuel in speaking engagements and the news media and on his popular podcast, Law, Disrupted.

Carlinsky and Burck spoke with Law.com before they were ready to tout a groundbreaking victory the firm just notched – a decision at the D.C. Circuit for Chinese drone manufacturer DJI, the world’s leading commercial and recreational drone maker. It’s the first appellate decision to address the 2021 Chinese Military Company provision.

But there was plenty to discuss beyond QE’s China push. Among other topics, they addressed:

• Investing in AI. The two said Quinn Emanuel is in a position to make significant investments in artificial intelligence and is working with Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX, and others to customize the technology for its litigators.
• Investing in Humans. At the same time, “the actual value we bring to clients is from human brains, not artificial brains,” Burck said. Unlike many in the industry, Quinn Emanuel has robust hiring plans and is expanding its summer associate and first-year associate classes. Speaking more broadly and including partners, Carlinsky said the firm is looking for “diamonds in the rough” who could become rainmakers.
• Expanding Business. In addition to the firm’s overall goals, the two are encouraging partners to think long-term about their own business ambitions, and it’s working. The partners are “constantly reaching out to both of us for help, support, guidance, ideas, and that creates a really healthy partnership,” Carlinsky said. Burck added that instead of “10 people drumming up business and handing that off to others,” they “encourage everyone to go out and find business, and we are part of that,” as busily practicing lawyers.

Read the full article on Quinn Emanuel’s bold new chapter here.