(Reuters) – The former head of the litigation department at Weil Gotshal & Manges has joined a boutique trial firm in New York.
James Quinn, 71, is now of counsel at Houston-based Berg & Androphy, which opened a New York office two years ago. Quinn, who has represented ExxonMobil, ESPN and Procter & Gamble in major trials, is particularly well known for his work representing professional athletes in contract disputes.
In an interview with Reuters, Quinn said he was most proud of his work representing New York Jets running back Freeman McNeil and seven other players in a 1992 antitrust trial that struck down restrictions on free agency in football. Last year, he also began advising mixed martial arts champion George St-Pierre in a contract dispute with Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Berg & Androphy co-founder David Berg said he and Quinn had worked together on a case in the 1990s, defending Westinghouse in a suit brought by the South Texas Nuclear Project, and had become close friends. “I can’t wait for the two of us to team up again,” said Berg.
Quinn left Weil at the end of 2016, after stepping down a year earlier as the head of litigation at the 1,100-lawyer firm. He had also been a member of the firm’s management committee. In addition to joining Berg & Androphy, he has started his own alternative dispute resolution practice. “I want to continue to do some trial work,” said Quinn, adding that, by “setting up my own practice, I’m going to be on my own time.”
Berg & Androphy’s New York office opened in April 2015 with two partners, Michael Fay and Jenny Kim, who joined the firm from Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman.