Quinn Emanuel Inks $40 Million Deal to Fund Private Equity Suits

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan will receive $40 million in litigation funding from Longford Capital to finance lawsuits for private equity firms and their portfolio companies.

The deal will offer funding for private equity clients who want to pursue litigation without harming profit and loss statements, according to the law firm. Quinn Emanuel said liquidity challenges posed by high interest rates make outside funding particularly attractive for private equity companies.

Funding will be available for private equity clients across different types of litigation, said Jonathan Bunge , co-chair of Quinn Emanuel’s national trial practice and managing partner of the Chicago office. That sets it apart from the firm’s previous arrangements with Longford and others, in which funding was decided on a case-by-case basis, he said.

Growing awareness and acceptance of the litigation finance industry has contributed to the embrace from big law firms, said William P. Farrell, Jr. , Longford’s managing director and co-founder., but these firms also tend to handle the complex litigation that commercial litigation funders find appealing.

“We like cases that are on the larger side,” Farrell said. “The average amount in controversy of a Longford investment is over $100 million and firms like Quinn Emanuel are best positioned to be able to handle the sophistication of a case of that size.”

Goodwin Picks Up Cooley Tech Team, Eyeing AI-Fueled Rebound

Goodwin Procter is adding a five-partner technology and life sciences team from Cooley in Boston.

Pat Mitchell will be joining Goodwin’s technology practice, along with partners Michael McGrail , Giselle Rivers , and Harley Brown , the firm said. Ex-Cooley lawyer Josh Rottner will join Goodwin’s life sciences practice, according to the firm.

The group has worked together for more than a decade, advising with clients in technology and life sciences. Its lawyers have recently guided investments in artificial intelligence. “There’s going to be a consolidation in legal services around these verticals,” Mitchell said. “It’s our bet that Goodwin is going to be the big winner.”

Goodwin and Cooley were among major law firms hardest hit by the slowdown in tech and young companies work over the last two years, prompting both to shed associates and staff. The M&A and public offerings markets are showing signs of life this year, building optimism among tech-focused law firms.

Clare Locke Sues Ex-Client Kytch Over Move to Breakaway Firm

Clare Locke is suing technology company Kytch for at least $7 million that the law firm claims it’s owed by its former client.

Kytch turned to Clare Locke to handle a wide range of defamation and trade secrets litigation, ringing up millions of dollars in fees and expenses in four different courts, the firm said in a civil complaint. It also wants a piece of any contingency fees that emerge from Kytch’s ongoing $900 million lawsuit against McDonald’s and another related action.

The company ended its relationship with Clare Locke after four non-equity partners left the firm in August 2023 to start their own litigation shop. Kytch signed on with the Clare Locke defectors shortly thereafter.

The new lawsuit, filed in a Virginia federal court, lays bare what Clare Locke believes was the impetus for the offshoot firm, Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch. The co-founders of Meier Watkins launched it in an effort to horde hefty contingency fees that could flow from the McDonald’s case, according to Clare Locke.

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