When Bill Urquhart joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan 31 years ago, it was a 15-lawyer boutique. The firm’s stature today as an 800-lawyer litigation behemoth is in part a credit to him—and his gift for recruiting top-notch laterals that propelled its growth.

Urquhart, who was 72, died on Friday evening due to complications stemming from a bone marrow transplant.