L.A. law firm cleans up

This is the time of year we start hearing about profits per partner at local law firms. It's the very rough equivalent of earnings per share, a measurement of how well or poorly a firm has fared the previous year. There's all kinds of squabbling about how the number is determined - here's a good explainer - but PPP is routinely reported in the trade press and it gets lots of attention at the top-tier firms. Anyway, L.A.-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges reports that its profits per partner hit the $3 million mark last year. That places it in a league with only a handful of firms, including NY's legendary M&A shop Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Revenue rose nearly 30 percent, to $385 million. Intellectual property, financial services and commercial litigation are Quinn Emanuel's big areas. "I have yet to see a cyclical aspect to litigation," John Quinn, the firm's managing partner, told The Recorder. "Litigation is always a growth industry."

The financial results didn't prevent some associates from complaining about their bonuses. Legal blog Above the Law reported griping that the firm unexpectedly drew the line for full year-end bonuses at 2,100 hours, 100 hours more than the previous year. Quinn said that decisions about bonuses are made at the end of the year, not beforehand, and that 2,100 was "not necessarily" a bright line. He added that Quinn associates were given a special bonus this year on top of the normal ones, matching a move made by only a few elite New York firms. "If [Quinn associates] are not the most highly paid, they're among the most highly paid in the country," Quinn said. "Any suggestion that the firm has done really, really well and the associates haven't shared is false."