Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Munger, Tolles & Olson is an elite SoCal firm with offices in Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Washington, DC. The firm is best known for litigation, and through its highly selective recruiting process, it hires a high number of clerks. 

Cali Firm with Cornhusker Friends

Munger Tolles was founded in 1962 by seven partners, including Charles Munger and Edwin Leroy Tolles. Munger departed after three years, but this proved to work in the firm’s interests. A close friend of investor Warren Buffett, Munger became the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, which in turn became a long-term Munger Tolles client. 

Tolles passed away in 2008, leaving Ronald L. Olson as the last name partner still in active practice at the firm. Olson, who joined in 1968, is also connected to Berkshire Hathaway (he’s a former director in the company) and served as Founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Southern California Public Radio. For many years, the Daily Journal (which happened to be owned by Charles Munger) has named Olson one of California’s most influential lawyers, acknowledging his work for clients such as Yahoo!, the J. Paul Getty Trust, Shell Oil, Michael Ovitz, and the late Paramount chair Brad Grey.

Winning on Pacific Time

Proving that the West Coast can be the best coast, Munger Tolles made headlines in 2008 when The American Lawyer placed it atop the magazine’s A-List. It was the first time the honor had gone to a firm outside New York but not the last: Munger Tolles has placed No. 1 on The American Lawyer A-List 10 times, most recently in 2024. Today, Munger Tolles attorneys work in nine general practice areas with numerous subspecialities, and their strength in white collar investigations and defense, as well as appellate work, is growing. Niche practices include bankruptcy. The firm’s clients include some of California’s largest companies in entertainment, energy, and retail; national corporations; large universities; leading Wall Street banks; foreign government agencies; and international corporations.

Own It

Munger Tolles is atypical in that it promotes an “ownership mentality” in its associates. In adherence to this culture, partners all weigh in on the pay of their fellow partners, and all attorneys have input into the recruiting process, review the firm’s financial books, and participate in all important firm decisions. A highly selective firm in terms of both hiring and its acceptance of cases, Munger Tolles has historically rewarded those who make it through the hiring gauntlet with an accelerated path to partner: The average associate can be considered for partnership between their sixth and ninth year at the firm. Although the firm keeps its roster lean, it prides itself on the breadth of talent within its doors, and clients who hire Munger Tolles may find themselves with lawyers who hold graduate degrees in history, literature, medicine, economics, or physics.

• Represented Hawaiian Electric Industries and Hawaiian Electric Company in securing a historic settlement resolving litigation related to the devastating 2023 Maui wildfires. The settlements cover the fires in Lahaina, Kula, and Olinda and are on a global basis without any admission of liability.
• Secured a permanent injunction against the $24.6 billion merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains, which would have been the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.
• Secured the reversal of a $1 billion judgment against BMO Bank N.A. (formerly known as BMO Harris Bank N.A.), the U.S. subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that a federal court erroneously rejected a critical and dispositive defense.
• Achieved a landmark victory for immigrants’ rights when a federal court ruled that the use of so-called “knock and talks” by ICE for the purpose of arresting individuals is unlawful and unconstitutional. Although the Fourth Amendment generally permits ICE officers to approach a home without a warrant merely to speak with a resident, the court found that ICE unlawfully uses “knock and talks” for the purpose of arrest.

• 1 on the A-List for a record 10th time, 2024—The American Lawyer
• Pro Bono Institute’s John H. Pickering Award, 2024—Pro Bono Institute
• Most Admired Law Firms to Work For, fourth consecutive year, 2024—Los Angeles Business Journal
• Mansfield Certification Plus, seventh consecutive year, 2024—Diversity Lab
• Top Score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index, eighth consecutive year, 2024—Human Rights Campaign