Randall G. Sommer

Profile

Randall Sommer is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.  Mr. Sommer’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation.  He principally represents companies in the entertainment, financial, aerospace, and consumer product industries.  He has litigated in numerous state and federal courts and in several arbitral forums.  Examples include:

  • Representations of major studios in litigation involving profit participation and film production;
  • Representations of major national banks and securities firms in nationwide class actions involving financial services; and
  • Representation of multinational corporation in consumer product class action.

Mr. Sommer has also provided pro bono legal services in the areas of prisoner rights, immigration, and campaign finance law, including the defense of the constitutionality of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act at the trial stage and on appeal to the United States Supreme Court.  In 2006, he served as a special prosecutor for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, where he prosecuted several jury trials.

Mr. Sommer received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he graduated with college honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  He then worked for several years in the entertainment industry, principally as a theater director and for a television production company.  Mr. Sommer received his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1999, where he was a James Kent Scholar (1996-1997, 1997-1998), a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (1998-1999), and a Book Review Editor of the Columbia Law Review.  At Columbia, he also received the James A. Elkins Prize in Constitutional Law and the Paul R. Hays Prize in Civil Procedure.  He joined the firm in 2000, after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Sweet in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Sommer is a member of the California and New York bars, the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.  He recently served as chairman of the board of directors of the Virginia Avenue Project, a Santa Monica-based nonprofit organization that uses the arts to help kids realize their full potential.

 

Randall Sommer is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.  Mr. Sommer’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation.  He principally represents companies in the entertainment, financial, aerospace, and consumer product industries.  He has litigated in numerous state and federal courts and in several arbitral forums.  Examples include:

  • Representations of major studios in litigation involving profit participation and film production;
  • Representations of major national banks and securities firms in nationwide class actions involving financial services; and
  • Representation of multinational corporation in consumer product class action.

Mr. Sommer has also provided pro bono legal services in the areas of prisoner rights, immigration, and campaign finance law, including the defense of the constitutionality of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act at the trial stage and on appeal to the United States Supreme Court.  In 2006, he served as a special prosecutor for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, where he prosecuted several jury trials.

Mr. Sommer received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he graduated with college honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  He then worked for several years in the entertainment industry, principally as a theater director and for a television production company.  Mr. Sommer received his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1999, where he was a James Kent Scholar (1996-1997, 1997-1998), a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (1998-1999), and a Book Review Editor of the Columbia Law Review.  At Columbia, he also received the James A. Elkins Prize in Constitutional Law and the Paul R. Hays Prize in Civil Procedure.  He joined the firm in 2000, after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Sweet in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Sommer is a member of the California and New York bars, the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.  He recently served as chairman of the board of directors of the Virginia Avenue Project, a Santa Monica-based nonprofit organization that uses the arts to help kids realize their full potential.