Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

• “While there were a handful of very effective and enjoyable training programs, the best training came from doing meaningful, substantive work and receiving extensive, collaborative feedback from associates and partners at the firm. I was staffed on multiple matters with just one or two partners and no associates, and the experience of being able to work so closely with senior partners and receive ongoing feedback and training throughout was invaluable.”
• “Summer work assignments are genuine substantive work assignments and do a great job providing summers with insights into the type of work at the firm.”
• “In addition to providing substantive tasking, MTO provided summer associates with the opportunity to seek out specific assignments that aligned with their interests. MTO also provided valuable training focusing on core competencies for litigators.”
• “The firm paired me with a work coordinator (also an attorney) who helped provide me with a range of substantive work that I was interested in. I drafted short motions, researched and drafted long substantive memos regarding substantive and procedural due process that went straight to the client, and conducted research for a SCOTUS case that our team was arguing that upcoming term.”

• “MTO's summer program may have slightly fewer social events than peer firms, but there were enough for me to feel I got to know the firm (including partners) decently well. Our summer class also had a really strong bond (strong enough that nearly all of us joined the firm as associates).”
• “The social events were well-attended but less of a focus relative to the work than I gather is the case at other firms. Social events are not mandatory, and when summer associates were particularly busy, they would occasionally skip them. That said, they were always well-attended by both summer associates and lawyers at the firm, including partners, and several were hosted at partners' homes. They were intended to help summer associates learn about LA and so would have a neighborhood, landmark, or cultural focus.”
• “MTO's social events were adequate, but there weren't any real signature events save for the retreat. Many of the events included smaller numbers of summers, which created a nice, intimate feel.”
• “… When I returned to the firm after clerking, it felt like I knew many colleagues well. It was much more like a homecoming than starting a new job. Summer associates are included in the firm's traditional twice-weekly attorney lunches and weekly sherry sips, which provide informal opportunities to interact with firm attorneys. Each summer associate has a social mentor who sets up out-of-office lunches once or twice a week with different groupings of firm attorneys and other summers. And there are many opportunities for out-of-office socializing both with firm attorneys and fellow summers at the many wonderful summer events.”

• “I think MTO's summer program was a totally realistic and useful window into what the actual firm experience is like. I can't think of any meaningful ways the actual work experience has differed (other than, in an appropriate way, including more work and more responsibility than summers are asked to take on).”
• “MTO is very upfront about expectations, including during the summer. Substantive work is provided early in your career, and this is not something MTO hides from in the summer. Some of the tasks assigned are quite complex and nuanced.”
• “The summer experience was a pretty fair representation of what I could expect as a practicing attorney there. Of course, the summer experience is short and jam-packed with events and can only offer a sliver of what to expect as a full-time attorney.”
• “My summer at MTO was, in every way, representative of life as a junior associate. The firm is free market, and the opportunity to work with any given partner is not reserved for more-senior associates. Additionally, all associates are welcome to join cases in any practice area. Work has also continued to be substantive.”

• “Private tour of the Getty, dinners at partners' houses, swan boating in Echo Park, brunch and walking tour of Venice, theater outing in Hollywood, and summer retreat in Santa Barbara.”
• “Wine tasting with the firm's wine czar!”
• “Among my favorite summer events were actually the firmwide lunches because they were easy and casual, and we got to hear from attorneys on cases they worked on and other outside speakers from prominent organizations.”
• “Drag queen sangria class.”

Our lawyers are problem solvers who deal with some of the toughest and most complicated litigation and transactions in the country. We look for law students who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their prior pursuits and who bring leadership, intellectual curiosity, and a sense of individuality to an already extremely talented and diverse group of lawyers. Unlike other law firms, where it has become common to expect that young lawyers will stay only a short time before moving on to other endeavors, we only hire lawyers we believe have the potential to ultimately join our (one-tier) partnership. Our summer program provides a realistic idea of what it is like to practice law at our firm. Students work closely with attorneys in various practice areas, doing meaningful assignments. The summer program includes invitations to attend weekly lunches, training programs, social events, and practice-group meetings.