'I suspect we're hated'

That's how John Quinn believes the legal world views his firm. He's exaggerating, but not by much. I profile L.A.-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges in the September issue of Fast Company - and let's just say these folks are a pretty confident bunch. Quinn emerged the winner in that big copyright infringement case last month in which a designer was found to have created Bratz dolls for MGA Entertainment while he was still at Mattel. The case is still in the damage phase, but you can be sure that Quinn Emanuel will make out all right. The 109 partners took home, on average, a shade over $3 million last year. That's a 23.9 percent jump from the previous year - and nearly $2 million more than in 2003. Only three other law firms in the nation went over the $3 million mark in profits per partner. Beyond the financial success is the firm's unorthodox way of doing business. Well, the FC headline is "Caffeinated, Aggressive & Brash, Esq."

Quinn Emanuel's different attitude is evident the moment you step into its L.A. offices. The unfinished ceilings and airy minimalism are the opposite of the hushed, wood-paneled dens where most corporate consiglieri ply their trade. Many of the partners and associates dress in T-shirts, jeans, and flip-flops. Off the main reception area is a Starbucks-style coffee room, complete with staff barista. The firm isn't shy about trumpeting its success and the reasons for it. "Justice may be blind," its Web site crows, "but she sees it our way 90% of the time."

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Casual office attire and light-touch management notwithstanding, Quinn Emanuel has forged a hard-driving culture for its adversarial work. It's the kind of place where lawyers shoot off a firm-wide email at 2 a.m. asking if anyone wants to take a break at the Denny's across the street -- and get plenty of takers. Even the off hours are intense, punctuated by the firm's annual summer hikes, dubbed death marches. Quinn has led the firm's lawyers through Olympic National Park in Washington State, up Half Dome in Yosemite, and into the Swiss Alps.