Quinn Emanuel has added Richard East to its Mariana litigation team alongside Pogust Goodhead, a move aimed at the quantum phase of the Mariana Dam Case against BHP. East said he is joining a team already deep in preparation and will focus on that work and nothing else.
Richard East said: “This is a claim of a scale and difficulty that few firms are equipped to see through to the end, and the claimants are entitled to representation that will not falter at the quantum stage. I am joining a team that is already deep in preparation, and my focus is on that preparation and nothing else.” He also brings experience that includes founding Quinn Emanuel’s London office, winning Disputes Partner of the Year at the British Legal Awards in 2025, and a place in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame.
Quinn Emanuel and Pogust Goodhead
Quinn Emanuel and Pogust Goodhead established their strategic partnership in June 2026 to push the Mariana litigation into the quantum phase. Justin Michaelson said: “Pogust Goodhead’s clients have waited eleven years. What serves them now is a settled, properly resourced team preparing for a trial that begins in April 2027, not a contest between law firms conducted through announcements.”
The timetable now matters because the case has already been running for eleven years, and the next stretch is tightly mapped: evidence is due to start in April 2027, with closing submissions set for March 2028. For claimants, the staffing change signals that the legal team is building around the part of the case where the size of any recovery is tested, not just liability.
High Court hearing in October
That preparation sits beside a separate procedural fight. On 4 September 2026, Pogust Goodhead applied to the High Court for declaratory relief over whether a client committee has authority to direct a change in legal representation. Quinn Emanuel has opted not to comment further on that representation issue before the hearing.
The court is expected to hear the issue on 5 and 6 October 2026, which makes the next step more than a staffing update. The lawyers are building the case for April 2027, while the High Court will be asked to decide who can direct the legal team before that trial work reaches its most expensive phase.
For the claimants, the practical question is no longer simply who is on the team, but who can change that team before the quantum stage begins in earnest.
