The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc upon Biglaw as we know it, and firms we previously thought were untouchable are now making moves in response to the financial uncertainties that go hand in hand with market instability. Until today, we never would have thought that one of the biggest names in Biglaw would be making adjustments to its ledgers, but here we are.
We’re told that Quinn Emanuel, which came in 25th place in the most recent Am Law 100 rankings, with $1.25 billion in revenue in 2019, will be postponing partner distributions that were originally scheduled for April until July. On top of that, the firm has revised the size of partner draws for April, May, and June. When it comes to profits per equity partner, Quinn Emanuel is ranked No. 5 in the Am Law 100, with each partner raking in $4.5 million. “We’re focused on building up our cash reserves, given who knows what the future holds,” said John Quinn, the firm’s founder.
The American Lawyer has additional details on the scope of the pay adjustments:
One source familiar with the changes said that all partners would receive draws of $30,000 per month starting in June. Quinn would not comment on the specific size of the draws, but emphasized that reductions were not universal.
“Some people are getting less than before, while some are getting more,” he said. “It’s not true that all are getting reduced.” …
But partners at the firm who have seen their compensation dip are still in the dark about whether July distributions will return their compensation to where it stood prior to the COVID-19 crisis, with Quinn saying only that the issue would be revisited that month.
On the bright side, Quinn says his firm has been “gratified” because its financial performance has been strong through the pandemic thus far. “It’s like the whole economy went off the cliff,” he said. “We didn’t know what this was going to mean for us.” Hopefully Quinn Emanuel continues to see success as the COVID crisis rages on.
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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.