Former Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan London partner Marc Becker could be set for a return to the firm after a US judge dismissed a motion filed by Bank of America (BoA) to disqualify the firm from a multibillion-dollar litigation case.

The US firm is now set to ask BoA to consent to Becker's return, after he was asked to leave in October as a result of a conflict issue relating to a minor role he took on Quinn Emanuel's work for AIG in a $10bn (£6.3bn) securities litigation case against BoA.

BoA had argued that City litigator Becker was conflicted due to working for Merrill Lynch while at his former firm, Munger Tolles & Olson.

Becker, who joined Quinn Emanuel in London in 2009, had represented Merrill Lynch and a subsidiary while at Munger, where he had billed more than 120 hours looking into Merrill's underwriting practices.

BoA, which subsequently took over Merrill, argued that this work placed Becker in conflict. He had spent a total of just 5.8 hours working on the AIG matter while at Quinn.

The news comes after Quinn Emanuel's fast-growing London arm recently reported impressive growth figures for its second full year of trading.

The US firm's UK limited liability partnership accounts for 2010 show London turnover rising 63% from £7.6m to £12.4m, with operating profit up 47% from £5.7m to £8.4m.

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