Midsize L.A. Litigation Firm to Open London Office, Plans to Sue Banks

A midsize Los Angeles-based law firm is opening its first European office and stealing a top partner from not one but, effectively, two major competitors in the process.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges is bringing in restructuring partner Richard East from Kirkland & Ellis later this week, in order to launch a London office, according to the Lawyer and Legal Week. East had been expected to leave Kirkland for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, according to rumors, but made a last-minute switch to the Quinn firm after his talks with Weil Gotshal broke down.

The new London office will focus its practice on complex cases against major financial institutions, says Bill Urquhart, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel. "We want to be able to provide magic circle equivalent legal talent to companies that can't retain the magic circle because those firms won't sue the big financial institutions."

Known for its litigation work, Quinn Emanuel has only one other international office, in Tokyo.