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Quinn Emanuel has a history of representing Elon Musk and his business ventures in court. Quinn planned to represent X Corp in a lawsuit against Bright Data Ltd., but the firm’s prior interactions with the opposing side seem to be enough to force it to conflict out. Law360 has coverage:
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP can no longer represent social media giant X Corp. in the company’s lawsuit against Bright Data Ltd., with a California federal judge finding the law firm violated its duty of loyalty to Bright Data after previously representing it in a “substantially related” case.
Judge William Alsup said in a decision Friday that Quinn Emanuel’s work helping Bright Data in a lawsuit by Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is enough to disqualify it from representing X in a similar lawsuit. The lawsuits are related to Bright Data’s business model, which allegedly involves scraping social media platforms.
“This order finds the two matters are substantially related. Quinn is, therefore, disqualified from representing X Corp. in this litigation,” Judge Alsup said. “Because the conflicted Quinn attorneys have not changed firms and their former client has not consented, ‘disqualification extends vicariously to the entire firm’ and ‘is mandatory.’ Screening lawyers or offices is no fix in these circumstances: Quinn is Quinn.”
Rough thing to hear from a judge, but if “Quinn is Quinn” doesn’t make its way onto a round of firm mugs, that might be an even bigger loss. A firm spokesperson said that they disagree with the ruling and are “evaluating next steps.” If taking those steps leads to Quinn staying on the case, that’ll be worth one hell of a victory sip.
Quinn Emanuel Barred From Repping X In Scraping Case [Law360]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
