Kevin F. Quinn

As a defensive back on the West Point football team, Kevin Quinn never failed to offer opposing runners a hand up after he had knocked them down. Such sportsmanlike conduct has carried over to Kevin’s career as a trial lawyer. Today, many cases he handles result from referrals from attorneys that he has bested in the courtroom.

Kevin came to California as a result of a shoulder injury incurred while playing football as a defensive back for the United States Military Academy at West Point. His injury was so serious he was honorably discharged from the army.

Picking up from his studies at West Point, Kevin entered SDSU as a political science major and an engineering minor. While working full time Kevin eventually graduated with honors. Next Kevin brought his characteristic intensity to his studies at California Western School of Law, graduating magna cum laude and having served as a member of the Law Review in 1982. Admitted to practice that year, Kevin then attended Hastings College of Advocacy to refine his skills in his newly chosen focus as a trial lawyer. And try cases he has, with distinction and great results. It was Kevin's client who in 1993 won the first settlement against Shiley heart valves.

His pioneering victory in the Shiley case is overshadowed only by his satisfaction with the outcome of an earlier, smaller case which initiated an amazing chain of events outside of the courtroom that eventually touched the lives of dozens of Mexican children.

In 1986 Antonio Rivera came to Kevin for help after being severely burned in a roofing accident. He had been working on an apartment building when a tar boiler exploded, leaving him burned and crippled.

Antonio’s case was finally settled in 1987 and he received over $350,000.00 for his injuries. In January 1988 Antonio returned unannounced to the firm and asked to see Kevin.

Antonio was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he wanted to give back some of his money in a way that would do the most good for others. He presented Kevin with a check for $10,000.00 and asked him to put it to good use.

The result was the restoration of the Emilio Zapata School and Orphanage. Antonio’s money, and the labor of partners at the firm working with volunteers from the Navy and the Marine Corps, essentially rebuilt and modernized the 42-child facility near Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

Kevin has earned his distinguished reputation by taking tough cases other lawyers avoid to trial. And winning them. The same intensity and tenacity that made him a starter on the West Point team have carried over into a successful career as a partner at Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire where he has become known for both his passion and innovative trial exhibits. In 1998 Kevin received an Outstanding Trial lawyer Award for one of the first elder abuse death cases tried under a newly enacted state law.

The following year Kevin was honored by his peers with the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego for his work on four cases -- Hildebrand v. Donaldson, Bonillas v. Kaiser, Pancoast v. LeWinn, M.D. and Cooper v. Kaiser.

Kevin was in New York on another case on September 11, 2001 and witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center first hand. What he saw led him to be among the first to volunteer as a pro-bono representative for the families of those who were killed. In 2004 he and his staff obtained over $5,000,000.00 in compensation from the 9/11 Victim’s Fund Special Master for the family of David Berray who was killed when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

2004 and 2005 brought Kevin more accolades. First he was admitted to the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Following that he received another Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award for his work on behalf of an injured US Navy SEAL candidate in Roberts. v. Council. In 2006 Kevin's outstanding body of work as a personal injury lawyer earned him recognition in Woodward White's book "Best Lawyers in America." in the Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury and Product Liability categories.


Kevin’s interests in the law are diverse. He practices in a wide range of areas including products liability, medical malpractice and personal injury. His courtroom style matches his life — full speed, no excuses, get it done.