Remember Susan Estrich? She's the Harvard law professor who managed Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential bid straight into the ground (read Time's account of the debacle, "Anatomy of a Disaster," here) and who is now the token liberal talking head on Fox News—a position that hasn't exactly garnered her much love from Democrats. Anyway! Yesterday, she sent out an e-mail to some of her buddies telling them all about how very excited she was about her latest career move: becoming chief of counsel to L.A.-based business-litigation firm Quinn Emanuel. Except she accidentally (we assume) forgot to BCC the high-powered recipient list!

The e-mail—according to Estrich, you don't have to wear a suit to work at Quinn Emanuel, and they even have Americano at the firm's cappuccino bar!—sent to Roger Ailes, Arianna Huffington, Michael Eisner, Madeleine Albright, James Carville, and Jerry Bruckheimer's first wife, Bonnie Bruckheimer, among others, is after the jump. Our favorite line: "I suppose wishing intense business litigation on friends may not be a fond hope, but if you face issues in the future, civil or criminal, where you could use a powerful team on your side, I hope you'll call my colleagues and I at Quinn Emanuel."

From: Susan R. Estrich
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 3:25 PM
To: [Redacted]
Subject: Good News!

I'm writing to tell you about an exciting development in my professional life. As of January of this year, I have become affiliated as chief of counsel to the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver and Hedges, which is based here in Los Angeles, and has offices in New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Tokyo. Attached is the announcement of my arrival.

As you probably know, I've been practicing law on the side for most of the twenty five years that I've been teaching law, both at Harvard and at USC, at least when I haven't been trying to get various folks elected President. In addition to my tenure as a civil litigator at the late, great Tuttle and Taylor, the fine but now defunct firm in Los Angeles with whom I practiced in the 1980's, I've done everything from arguing evidentiary motions in district court to filing demurrers in state court to writing briefs and arguing in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court. I have found the practice of law challenging, enjoyable and extremely helpful in paying the tuition bills of my growing children, not to mention the training bills for my expanding canine family.

Three years ago, my very close friend (and former protege) Kathleen Sullivan, the former Dean of Stanford Law School, joined Quinn Emanuel as of counsel. In all our years as friends, she has never been so happy. Last year, she became a partner in the firm and head of its appellate practice. Kathleen and I cut our teeth together in the brief writing business, as young professors in adjoining offices at Harvard. Since then, we've been trying to figure out how we were going to reunite as a team. Enter John Quinn, my law school classmate, former Law Review colleague, and the genius (and believe me I don't use that term lightly) behind Quinn Emanuel. It was just over twenty years ago that John and Eric Emanuel came up with the idea of a firm that specialized only in litigation, with a focus on what matters: doing the very best work, with great intensity, winning, and not wearing suits to work. Quinn Emanuel has a unique culture. It's full of really smart, really driven, really hard-working people who like to win big. The firm's offices in downtown LA are in a perfectly nice building, but on the Quinn floors, you can see the pipes in the ceiling; you can also get an Americano at the firm cappuccino bar. Coffee over ceilings. Makes sense to me.

In the years since Quinn Emanuel opened its doors, the firm has grown to over 375 lawyers, with offices in five cities, and an approach to law practice that has made it one of the most profitable, and sought-after, firms in the country. Sought after, that is, by some of the smartest lawyers, both right out of school and entering laterally, and by clients who like to win. Most law firms, like most political consultants I know, don't like to talk about their won-loss records. At Quinn, they're happy to put them on the front page of their website. Quinn Emanuel lawyers have tried over 1175 cases, and they've won 1078, or 92%. They've won over $6.2 billion in verdicts and settlements when representing plaintiffs. In the last five years, they, or I should say we, are the only firm in the United States to have won three NINE figure verdicts, as well as three NINE
figure settlements.

As I thought about the next chapter of my life, and the challenges I wanted to face, I could think of no place that better suited me, no firm that better matched my intensity and drive and commitment to excellence, than Quinn Emanuel. In the days since I have begun working, I have been impressed over and over again with the quality of the lawyers I am working with and the work that they do, as well as their absolute commitment to their clients and the competitive relentlessness they bring to the task of lawyering. I can think of no better place to be, and no better people to work with. I suppose wishing intense business litigation on friends may not be a fond hope, but if you face issues in the future, civil or criminal, where you could use a powerful team on your side, I hope you'll call my colleagues and I at Quinn Emanuel. If you'd like to know more about the firm, check out our website, www.quinnemanuel.com. Or give me a call, and I'd be honored to introduce you to some of my new colleagues.

Happy new year. May the new year be full of good health, joy, and success for you and yours.

All the best,

Susan