Munger, Tolles & Olson Ranks Fifth in The American Lawyer’s 2025 Pro Bono Scorecard
Munger, Tolles & Olson is ranked No. 5 in The American Lawyer’s 2025 Pro Bono Scorecard, which publishes annually and tracks pro bono work performed by U.S.-based and international lawyers across Am Law 200 firms.
MTO lawyers averaged 136.1 hours of pro bono work in 2024, the fourth highest of any firm. In an interview, Co-Managing Partner Hailyn Chen shared that the firm hasn’t shifted the kind of pro bono work lawyers do and continues to take on a variety of matters, including impact litigation. “The type of pro bono work we have done continues to remain the same. Also, we have pro bono matters that are unique, given the time and circumstances.”
The American Lawyer highlighted the firm’s work in a significant matter from 2024 in which MTO—along with the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic—won a victory for immigrants’ rights when a federal court ruled that the use of so-called “knock and talks” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the purpose of arresting individuals is unlawful and unconstitutional. The order barring the practice applies to ICE’s Los Angeles Field Office, which covers Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernadino, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
The American Lawyer also highlighted MTO’s lead role in filing amicus briefs in support of Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale’s lawsuits challenging Executive Orders issued by the Trump administration. The amicus briefs were filed on behalf of hundreds of law firms from across the country and argued that it is critical for our judicial system and the rule of law that lawyers be able to represent clients without suffering governmental repercussions merely for doing so.
Learn more about The American Lawyer’s 2025 Pro Bono Scorecard. (Subscription may be required)
About MTO’s Pro Bono Practice
Contributing to the community through pro bono work and other forms of volunteerism is a core tenet of Munger, Tolles & Olson. The firm was one of the charter signatories to the American Bar Association’s pro bono challenge and consistently devotes more than six percent of all attorney time to delivering needed pro bono legal assistance. We are proud to be one of the select group of firms to have received the ABA’s coveted Pro Bono Publico Award.