Editing Munger, Tolles & Olson

{{Infobox Law Firm
| firm_name =Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
| firm_logo =
| headquarters = [[Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles)|KPMG Tower]]<br>[[Los Angeles]], [[California]]
| num_offices = 3
| num_attorneys = 170 (2011)
| num_employees = 450 (2008)
| practice_areas = litigation, corporate, tax, real estate, bankruptcy, labor and employment, environmental
| key_people = Sandra A. Seville-Jones, Managing Partner
| revenue = $204 million (2011)
| date_founded = 1962
| founder = [[Charlie Munger]], Leroy Tolles and [[Ronald Olson]]
| company_type = [[Limited liability partnership]]
| homepage = [http://www.mto.com/ mto.com]
| dissolved = <!-- Date/Reason the company dissolved, e.g., merger or bankruptcy -->
}}
'''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.<ref name="mto.com">http://www.mto.com/about/</ref>

==Legal practice==

Munger, Tolles & Olson is known for its defense of corporations in civil lawsuits and individuals in criminal trials and investigations. The ''[[The American Lawyer|American Lawyer]]'' described the firm as an "army of trial lawyers capable of waging war".<ref>http://www.mto.com/about</ref> ''Chambers and Partners'' noted that the firm is a "litigation powerhouse".<ref>http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/32563#org_3535</ref> 

Notable representations include:

* The [[Getty Trust]] after allegations of wrongdoing in the acquisition of its antiquities collection;<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-getty2sep02,1,3861153.story | work=Los Angeles Times | first1=Jason | last1=Felch | first2=Ralph | last2=Frammolino | title=Investigators Secretly Mined Munitz's Records | date=2006-09-02}}</ref>
* [[Michael Ovitz]] in defending his executive pay at [[Disney]];<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ayHHtVC4w.GQ&refer=us | work=Bloomberg | title=Lawyers at Disney's Ovitz Trial Learn to Adapt to Delaware | date=2005-01-11}}</ref>
* California candidate for governor [[Bill Simon (politician)|Bill Simon]] after a jury returned a $78 million verdict for fraud;<ref>http://www.mto.com/lawyers/bio.cfm?id=19</ref>
* [[Southern California Edison]] in the reorganization of California's energy industry;<ref>http://www.mto.com/lawyers/bio.cfm?id=106</ref>
* [[Merrill Lynch]] in the bankruptcy of [[Orange County, California|Orange County]];<ref name="ReferenceA">http://www.mto.com/lawyers/bio.cfm?id=87</ref>
* The [[Philippines]] against [[Imelda Marcos]] and [[Ferdinand Marcos]];<ref name="ReferenceA" />
* Several couples and [[Equality California]] in a [[California Supreme Court]] petition challenging the constitutionality of [[California Proposition 8 (2008)|Proposition 8]].<ref>http://www.mto.com/probono/</ref>
* Defense of AFTERMATH RECORDS regarding the percentage of royalties owed for digital downloads. Known as the "Eminem Decision".<ref name="mto.com" />
* Defense of ABC's reality show ''[[The Glass House (2001 TV series)|The Glass House]]'' in a lawsuit by CBS alleging copyright infringement.
* Defended and lost the case of self-help speaker [[James Arthur Ray]] (The Secret) when he was convicted of criminally negligent homicide for the deaths of 3 people at a sweat lodge in Sedona, Arizona.

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]].<ref>http://www.mto.com/practiceareas/practicearea.cfm?id=2</ref>  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.<ref>http://www.mto.com/practiceareas/practicearea.cfm?id=22</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/08/business/fi-lawfirm8 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Andrea | last=Chang | title=L.A. law firm judged No. 1 | date=2008-07-08}}</ref><ref>http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2009/03/munger-revenue-and-profits-flat.html</ref> The firm topped the "A-List" of the nation's most elite law firms again in 2009<ref>{{cite news| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/06/30/munger-tolles-tops-amlaws-a-list-once-again/ | work=The Wall Street Journal | first=Ashby | last=Jones | date=2009-06-30 | title=Munger Tolles Tops AmLaw's A-List, Once Again}}</ref> and 2010.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/07/01/deja-vu-all-over-again-munger-tolles-again-tops-the-a-list/ | work=The Wall Street Journal | first=Ashby | last=Jones | date=2010-07-01 | title=Deja Vu All Over Again: Munger Tolles Again Tops the 'A-List'}}</ref>  After three years at the top of the list, the firm took second place in the 2011 rankings.<ref>http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202497958155</ref>

The firm employs 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]].<ref name="mto.com"/> ''Vault's'' ''2012 Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms'' ranked the firm third in the nation for selectivity, and second in transparency.<ref>http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/companies/rankings?companyId=406</ref> Nearly half of the attorneys who started at the firm in the last twenty years continue to practice there.<ref name="mto.com"/> Additionally, the firm ranked third on the ''American Lawyer's 2011 Diversity Scorecard'', with 23.4% of the firm's attorneys and 16.1% of the firm's partners as minorities.<ref>http://www.mto.com/media/news.cfm?type=Headlines&id=526</ref>

==Lawyers==

[[File:WellsFargocenter03.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Munger, Tolles & Olson's headquarters in Los Angeles]]

=== Attorneys ===
There are 170 lawyers at Munger, Tolles & Olson.<ref name="mto.com" /> In 2008, the ''Daily Journal'' named three attorneys to its list of the ''Top 100 Lawyers in California''.<ref>[http://www.mto.com/media/news.cfm?type=Headlines&id=314]</ref> Attorneys include:

* [[Robert Denham]], former CEO of the investment bank [[Salomon Brothers]] during the 1990s and current chairman of the [[MacArthur Foundation]];<ref>{{cite news| url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24413645.html?dids=24413645:24413645&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+03%2C+1992&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Salomon+Inc.+names+new+CEO+to+head+up+securities+house&pqatl | work=Chicago Tribune | title=Salomon Inc. names new CEO to head up securities house | date=1992-06-03}}</ref>
* [[Ronald Olson]], a director of [[Berkshire Hathaway]], who was named the most influential lawyer in California by ''California Law Business'';<ref>http://www.4cajobs.com/commission/members/ronaldolson/</ref>
* [[Jeffrey L. Bleich]], former Special Counsel to the President and [[United States Ambassador to Australia]]<ref>http://www.mto.com/lawyers/Jeffrey-L-Bleich/</ref>

=== Alumni ===
* [[Alan Bersin]], President [[Barack Obama]]'s "Border Czar" and former [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of California]];
* [[Nancy Bekavac]], the first woman president of [[Scripps College]];
* [[Roderick Hills]], former [[White House Counsel]] and Chairman of the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC);
* [[Carla Anderson Hills]], former [[United States Trade Representative|U.S. Trade Representative]] and former [[Secretary of Health and Human Services]];
* [[Carolyn Kuhl]], judge on the [[Los Angeles County Superior Court|Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles]] and former [[Solicitor General of the United States|Deputy Solicitor General]] at the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]];
* [[Vilma Socorro Martínez]], [[United States Ambassador to Argentina]] and past president of the [[Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund]] (MALDEF);<ref>[http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/05/vilma_martinez_to_argenti.php ''LA Observed'']</ref>
*Felicia Marcus, Chairman of [[California State Water Resources Control Board]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Felicia Marcus : Fighting for the Environment From Inside the Establishment
|date=September 2, 1990 |authorlink=Jane Fritsch |first=Jane |last=Fritsch  |accessdate=2015-05-07 |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-02/opinion/op-1718_1_felicia-marcus}}</ref>
* [[Charles Munger]], vice chairman of [[Berkshire Hathaway]]
* [[Paul J. Watford]], Judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]
* [[John B. Owens]], Judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]
* [[Michelle T. Friedland]], Judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mto.com  Munger, Tolles & Olson website]
*[http://www.mto.com/images/ps_attachment/attachment225.pdf American Lawyer profile of the firm after placing first on the A-List]
*[http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/08/business/fi-lawfirm8 L.A. Times article about the firm]
*[http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Firms/3535-32533  Chambers and Partners profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munger, Tolles and Olson}}
[[Category:Law firms based in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Law firms established in 1962]]