Law firm Quinn Emanuel ousted from defamation case against Muddy Waters

Techtronic Industries

04/09/2026 17:34

Judge says Techtronic's lawsuit is substantially related to Quinn Emanuel's earlier work
Quinn Emanuel says it plans to appeal disqualification order 
Techtronic sued Muddy Waters last year over allegedly defamatory reports
By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Austin, Texas, on Friday removed U.S. law firm Quinn Emanuel from representing power tools manufacturer Techtronic Industries in its defamation lawsuit against Muddy Waters Capital, ruling that the law firm's earlier representation of the activist short seller created a conflict of interest.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower said in her ruling that Hong Kong-based Techtronic’s lawsuit was substantially related to prior legal work that Quinn Emanuel provided for the investment firm.
Hightower said that the “appearance of impropriety and the likelihood of public suspicion from that appearance outweigh the interests served by the firm’s continued participation.”
Quinn Emanuel in a statement on Friday said it plans to appeal. It has denied any conflict of interest.
Muddy Waters in a statement said that Quinn Emanuel, "driven by greed, crossed an ethical line by acting adverse to us, its former client."
Techtronic, owner of Milwaukee power tools, sued Muddy Waters last ⁠year, alleging it conspired to publish defamatory reports about the company and profit from resulting declines in its ​stock price. Muddy Waters has denied any wrongdoing.
Muddy Waters told the court that Techtronic’s case “presents an unfortunate example of a law firm suing its ​former client after obtaining relevant confidential information during its representation of that client in a related matter.”
Quinn Emanuel has denied the conflict-of-interest claims, telling the court that it only briefly represented Muddy Waters in a different matter involving U.S. regulators.
“A single Quinn Emanuel lawyer — who has never worked on this case — billed 19.5 hours to a government investigation involving Muddy Waters four years ago,” Quinn Emanuel told the judge.
Quinn ⁠Emanuel’s team for Techtronic has included Alex Spiro, one of the top-billing partners at the firm. His clients have included billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and former Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick.
     
The case ⁠is Techtronic ​Industries Company Ltd v. Muddy Waters Capital LLC, U.S. District Court ​for the Western District of Texas, No. 1:25-cv-00249.
For plaintiff: Alex Spiro, Jason Sternberg, Kristin Tahler and Nicholas Inns of Quinn Emanuel
For defendant: David Korzenik ​of Miller Korzenik Rayman; and Peter Kennedy and James Hemphill of Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody
     
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(Reporting by Mike Scarcella)