Munger, Tolles & Olson
Encyclopedia
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP (MTO) is a California law firm
that has offices in Los Angeles
and San Francisco. Charles Munger founded the firm in 1962 with six other lawyers.
The firm has a transactional practice that represented Yahoo!
's board of directors during Microsoft
's proposed takeover; Warren Buffett
in his $31 billion gift to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Berkshire Hathaway
in its $22 billion purchase of General Reinsurance and $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs
. Additionally, the firm served as legal counsel during the construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall
and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
in downtown Los Angeles.
The firm hires only a handful of top law school graduates each year and promotes from within. About seventy percent of attorneys have clerked for federal judges, including 18 for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
. Vault's 2012 Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms ranked the firm third in the nation for selectivity, and second in transparency. Nearly half of the attorneys who started at the firm in the last twenty years continue to practice there. Additionally, the firm ranked third on the American Lawyer's 2011 Diversity Scorecard, with 23.4 percent of the firm's attorneys and 16.1 percent of the firm's partners as minorities.
There are 181 lawyers at Munger, Tolles & Olson. In 2008, the Daily Journal named three attorneys to its list of the Top 100 Lawyers in California. Prominent attorneys include:
Notable alumni include:
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...
that has offices in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los 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...
and San Francisco. Charles Munger founded the firm in 1962 with six other lawyers.
Legal practice
Munger, Tolles & Olson is known for its defense of corporations in civil law suits and individuals in criminal trials and investigations. The American Lawyer described the firm as an "army of trial lawyers capable of waging war." Chambers and Partners noted that the firm is a "litigation powerhouse." High profile representations have included:- The Getty Trust after allegations of wrongdoing in the acquisition of its antiquities collection;
- Michael OvitzMichael OvitzMichael S. Ovitz is an American talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as President of the Walt Disney Company from October 1995 to January 1997....
in defending his executive pay at Disney; - California candidate for governor Bill Simon after a jury returned a $78 million verdict for fraud;
- Southern California EdisonSouthern California EdisonSouthern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
in the reorganization of California's energy industry; - Merrill LynchMerrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
in the bankruptcy of Orange CountyOrange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
; - The PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
against Imelda MarcosImelda MarcosImelda R. Marcos is a Filipino politician and widow of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986...
and Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand MarcosFerdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
; - Several couples and Equality CaliforniaEquality CaliforniaEquality California or EQCA is a non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in California.-Early history:...
in a California Supreme Court petition challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
.
The firm has a transactional practice that represented Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
's board of directors during Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's proposed takeover; Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
in his $31 billion gift to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
in its $22 billion purchase of General Reinsurance and $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
. Additionally, the firm served as legal counsel during the construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, also called "COLA" and the Los Angeles Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States...
in downtown Los Angeles.
Recognition
In 2008, Munger, Tolles & Olson ranked as the nation's top law firm on the American Lawyer A-List based on financial performance, pro bono practice, associate satisfaction and workplace diversity. The firm topped the "A-List" list of the nation's most elite law firms again in 2009 and 2010 . After three years at the top of the list, the firm took second place in the 2011 rankings. .The firm hires only a handful of top law school graduates each year and promotes from within. About seventy percent of attorneys have clerked for federal judges, including 18 for justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. Vault's 2012 Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms ranked the firm third in the nation for selectivity, and second in transparency. Nearly half of the attorneys who started at the firm in the last twenty years continue to practice there. Additionally, the firm ranked third on the American Lawyer's 2011 Diversity Scorecard, with 23.4 percent of the firm's attorneys and 16.1 percent of the firm's partners as minorities.
Attorneys and alumni
- Jeff BleichJeff BleichJeffrey Laurence "Jeff" Bleich is an American lawyer from California who is the United States Ambassador to Australia. Formerly a partner at the firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Bleich is a longtime friend of President Barack Obama...
, on leave from the firm to serve as Special Counsel to President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
; and AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
-Designate to Australia; - Robert Denham, past CEO of the investment bank Salomon BrothersSalomon BrothersSalomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910 by three brothers along with a clerk named Ben Levy, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm Phibro Corporation and then became Salomon Inc. Eventually...
during the 1990s and current chairman of the MacArthur FoundationMacArthur FoundationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
; - Ronald OlsonRonald OlsonRonald L. Olson is an American attorney and partner in the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP. Most recently, Olson was the lead attorney representing the board of directors of Yahoo! in connection with Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo!...
, a director of Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
named the most influential lawyer in California by California Law Business;
Notable alumni include:
- Alan BersinAlan BersinAlan D. Bersin serves as the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Commissioner Bersin was placed by President Barack Obama on March 27, 2010 as a recess appointment. As Commissioner, Mr. Bersin oversees the operations of CBP’s 57,000-employee work force and manages an operating...
, President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's "Border Czar" and former United States AttorneyUnited States AttorneyUnited States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the United States District Court for the Southern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of CaliforniaThe United States District Court for the Southern District of California is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties in California: Imperial and San Diego. In terms of filed indictments, it is one of the busiest criminal districts in the United States...
; - Nancy Bekavac, the first woman president of Scripps CollegeScripps CollegeScripps College is a progressive liberal arts women's college in Claremont, California, United States. It is a member of the Claremont Colleges. Scripps ranks 3rd for the nation's best women's college, ahead of Barnard College, Mount Holyoke College, and Bryn Mawr College at 23rd on the list for...
; - Roderick Hills, former White House CounselWhite House CounselThe White House Counsel is a staff appointee of the President of the United States.-Role:The Counsel's role is to advise the President on all legal issues concerning the President and the White House...
and Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); - Carla Hills, former United States Trade Representative and former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services;
- Carolyn KuhlCarolyn KuhlCarolyn Barbara Kuhl is a judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri.-Background:...
, judge on the Superior Court of California for the County of Los AngelesSuperior Courts of CaliforniaThe Superior Courts of California are the superior courts in the U.S. state of California with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a government agency...
and former Deputy Solicitor General at the Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
; - Vilma Socorro MartínezVilma Socorro MartínezVilma Socorro Martínez is an American lawyer, civil rights activist and diplomat currently serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. She is the first woman to hold this position.-Life and career:...
, AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
-Designate to ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and past president of MALDEF; - Charles Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
.