Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a newly expanding firm, adds two Foley & Lardner bankruptcy and restructuring litigation partners to its Washington office.
The hires of Erika L. Morabito and Brittany J. Nelson follow the opening of a new office by Quinn Emanuel earlier this month in Miami. That involved adding 10 lawyers, some hired by Hogan Lovells and Greenspoon Marder, to staff a beachhead in a city where the finance and tech industries are thriving.
Quinn Emanuel also announced this year that he will be opening outposts in Austin, Texas and Atlanta.
Washington’s two new partners are joining the cabinet at a time when bankruptcy and restructuring work is still in demand, given the blow to some companies’ bottom lines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Morabito and Nelson have represented committees of unsecured creditors, ad hoc groups, shareholders, trustees, receivers, debtors, individuals, corporations, not-for-profit organizations and financial institutions.
Together, the two lawyers have worked with clients such as Sears Holdings Corp, Pier 1 Imports Inc., Shiloh Industries Inc., Toys R Us Inc. and Brooks Brothers Group Inc., as well as the late Big Law firm LeClairRyan. Morabito sits on the board of directors of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
“These are elite bankruptcy practitioners with a solid track record of success,” company founder John B. Quinn said in a statement.
In a statement, Morabito said of Quinn Emanuel: “There is no better platform to unite sophisticated bankruptcy lawyers and leading litigators in the world of fast and complex restructurings and big filings in chapter 11 “.
In addition to her bankruptcy and restructuring work, Morabito has been involved in a variety of complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts across the country. At Foley, she was Vice President of the National Litigation Department between 2012 and 2015, and Vice President of the Firm’s Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. She was also the hiring partner in the firm’s Washington office for nearly a decade.
Prior to joining Foley & Lardner, Nelson and Morabito both worked at Patton Boggs, now known as Squire Patton Boggs.