Quinn Emanuel and FHFA Won Big

In 2010, two Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan litigators went to Washington, and proposed something radical to officials at the Federal Housing Finance Agency – hire Quinn Emanuel to sue the banks that sold bad paper in the form of mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last week FHFA announced a $5.5 billion settlement with the Royal Bank of Scotland, putting the agency’s total recovery from mortgage backed securities suits at more than $25 billion. The banks assembled formidable legal teams, but Quinn Emanuel prevailed on just about every issue throughout the litigation. The firm and conflicts counsel from Kasowitz Benson Torres took home about $500 million.