Quinn Emanuel's Decision to Avoid Banking Clients Is Paying Off
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan decided a few years ago that competition for banking and accounting clients was so intense that it would be better to avoid representing those institutions.
Instead, the law firm opted to represent companies suing banks. The decision paid off, the Washington Post reports. This month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency sued 17 banks accused of selling bad mortgage securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Quinn Emanuel filed more than a dozen of the suits on behalf of the agency.
The Post spoke with Michael Carlinsky, a Quinn Emanuel partner who is the lead lawyer on a $10 billion suit filed on behalf of the American International Group claiming “massive fraud” by Bank of America in the sale of mortgage-backed securities. He said the firm is increasingly busy with mortgage securities cases as deadlines for lawsuits near. “The truth is, it just keeps growing,” he told the Post. “There’s been no let-up.”
According to figures published in April by the American Lawyer, Quinn Emanuel had the largest growth spurt among large law firms in 2010. Its gross revenue rose 31 percent to $550.5 million.
Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman filed the other suits on behalf of the FHFA.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “US Agency Hires Quinn Emanuel in Probe of Mortgage-Backed Securities”
