Morrison & Foerster LLP
Encyclopedia
Morrison & Foerster LLP (MoFo) is a large full-service law firm
with more than 1,000 lawyers in 15 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco
, USA in 1883, and its largest office is still located there. It was founded by Alexander Francis Morrison, a graduate of UC Hastings College of Law. Its lawyers have experience including real estate, securitization, joint ventures corporate
, finance
and financial services, life sciences and technology, land use and environmental law
, IP litigation, joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions
. Morrison & Foerster was the chief international counsel for the Beijing Organizing Committee
of the Olympic Games
of 2008.
Morrison & Foerster has an IPO practice for emerging technology firms concentrated in its San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Diego, New York, and Los Angeles offices. IPO work is also being done out of its Asian offices in China
and Japan
.
In 2008 Morrison & Foerster was crowned at the 2008 ALB Japan Law Awards as the:
is MoFo
. As of 28 February 2005, however, the firm has returned to the more conservative Morrison & Foerster, although MoFo is still used as the firm's URL
: mofo.com. It has not officially explained why it returned to its conventional name, although it has been speculated the reason is its similarity to the diminutive form of "motherfucker."
During the dot-com
era of the 1990s, when it was fashionable for American companies to appear irreverent, the nickname was prominently featured in the firm's advertising, both online and offline. It gained further notoriety through a bit by Jay Leno
on The Tonight Show
. Leno joked that the firm's clients could shout, "Get me my MoFo lawyer!"
Additionally, the home game Trivial Pursuit
has a question and answer circulating in current versions asking what four-letter nickname is used by worldwide law firm Morrison & Foerster. The answer, of course, is "MoFo".
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
with more than 1,000 lawyers in 15 offices. The firm was founded in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, USA in 1883, and its largest office is still located there. It was founded by Alexander Francis Morrison, a graduate of UC Hastings College of Law. Its lawyers have experience including real estate, securitization, joint ventures corporate
Corporations law
Companies law is the field of law concerning companies and other business organizations. This includes corporations, partnerships and other associations which usually carry on some form of economic or charitable activity. The most prominent kind of company, usually referred to as a "corporation",...
, finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
and financial services, life sciences and technology, land use and environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, IP litigation, joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
. Morrison & Foerster was the chief international counsel for the Beijing Organizing Committee
Beijing Organizing Committee
The The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, or BOCOG, also known as the Beijing Organizing Committee, is an informal name for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. It was also the organizing committee for the Games of the XIII Paralympiad...
of the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
of 2008.
Morrison & Foerster has an IPO practice for emerging technology firms concentrated in its San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Diego, New York, and Los Angeles offices. IPO work is also being done out of its Asian offices in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Awards
Morrison & Foerster is consistently ranked on the American Lawyers A-List. In 2005 the firm was ranked #11, in 2006 #6, in 2007 #16, in 2008 #20, in 2009 #8, and in 2011 #13.In 2008 Morrison & Foerster was crowned at the 2008 ALB Japan Law Awards as the:
- Deal of the Year - M&A Deal of the Year
- Deal of the Year - Japan Deal of the Year
Current offices
BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(1998)
BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
Denver (1979)
Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(1982)
LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1980)- Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(1974) - McLeanMcLean, VirginiaMcLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
(2000) - New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Palo Alto
- SacramentoSacramentoSacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...- Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(1979)
Former offices
Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
(operated from 1999–2001)- Century CityCentury City, Los Angeles, CaliforniaCentury City is a 176-acre commercial and residential district on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles. It is bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast...
- IrvineIrvine, CaliforniaIrvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
(closed in 2008) - Walnut CreekWalnut Creek-Communities:United States of America*Walnut Creek, California*Walnut Creek, North Carolina*Walnut Creek, Ohio-Schools:*A middle school in Metropolitan Detroit that belongs to the Walled Lake Consolidated Schools District in Oakland County, Michigan.-Streams:...
(closed 12/31/10) 
SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
(closed in 2009)
Noted professionals
- Drew S. Days, IIIDrew S. Days, IIIDrew Saunders Days III an American lawyer, served as United States Solicitor General from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. He also served as the first African American Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the Carter Administration from 1977 to 1980.He is the Alfred M...
, who served as the U.S. Solicitor General from 1993 to 1996, and who currently is of counselOf counselOf counsel is often the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. Some firms use titles like "counsel," "special counsel," and "senior counsel" for the same concept... - Beth BrinkmannBeth BrinkmannBeth S. Brinkmann is an American lawyer who serves as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, heading up the Appellate staff in the DOJ's Civil Division. She also served as the Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States from 1993 until 2001. ...
, who was the Assistant to the Solicitor General of the U.S. from 1993 until 2001, and who until 2009 was a partner - Tony West, former partner in the San Francisco office and former federal prosecutor, is currently assistant attorney general for the Civil Division in the Department of Justice
- Ketanji Brown JacksonKetanji Brown JacksonKetanji Brown Jackson is an American lawyer and current commissioner on the United States Sentencing Commission.- Early life and education :A native of Miami, Florida, Jackson graduated from Miami Palmetto High School in 1988...
, currently of counselOf counselOf counsel is often the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. Some firms use titles like "counsel," "special counsel," and "senior counsel" for the same concept...
at the firm and also a commissioner on the United States Sentencing CommissionUnited States Sentencing CommissionThe United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the federal government of the United States. It is responsible for articulating the sentencing guidelines for the United States federal courts... - Crystal McKellarCrystal McKellarCrystal Dawn Scripps McKellar is an American attorney and former child actress.McKellar was born in San Diego, California. When she was seven years old, her family moved to Los Angeles. She and her sister Danica were both students at the Diane Hill Hardin Young Actors Space school...
, former child actress who played Becky Slater in the hit series The Wonder YearsThe Wonder YearsThe Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
Nickname
The firm nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
is MoFo
MoFo
Mofo or MoFo may stand for:* Motherfucker* Morning FormationIn music:* "Mofo" from the Irish band U2's rock/techno album, Pop* The MOFO Project/Object, an album box set by Frank Zappa...
. As of 28 February 2005, however, the firm has returned to the more conservative Morrison & Foerster, although MoFo is still used as the firm's URL
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
: mofo.com. It has not officially explained why it returned to its conventional name, although it has been speculated the reason is its similarity to the diminutive form of "motherfucker."
During the dot-com
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
era of the 1990s, when it was fashionable for American companies to appear irreverent, the nickname was prominently featured in the firm's advertising, both online and offline. It gained further notoriety through a bit by Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
. Leno joked that the firm's clients could shout, "Get me my MoFo lawyer!"
Additionally, the home game Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
has a question and answer circulating in current versions asking what four-letter nickname is used by worldwide law firm Morrison & Foerster. The answer, of course, is "MoFo".