Our comprehensive approach has guided a broad spectrum of companies through complex, high-profile matters involving multi-jurisdiction litigation, business disputes, class actions, state and federal proceedings and mergers and acquisitions. Our antitrust lawyers are true litigators who take novel and high-stakes antitrust cases to trial across the country. We also have a strong practice advising firms on matters at the intersection of antitrust, standards, patents and other intellectual property. Working closely with our clients, Munger, Tolles & Olson has won novel appellate decisions establishing important principles of antitrust law and helped them avoid litigation, where possible, through detailed risk-avoidance advice.

The team has an extraordinary depth and breadth of experience. It is led by Don Verrilli, who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 2011 to 2016 and has argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including landmark victories defending the Affordable Care Act and securing marriage equality. The team also includes three lawyers who served in the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office—Ginger Anders, Elaine Goldenberg, and Ben Horwich. Each has argued many times in the U.S. Supreme Court as well as in federal appeals courts and state appellate courts, and each has been recognized by Chambers USA–Nationwide Appellate as among the very best appellate lawyers in the nation. Others at the firm, including Jeff Wu and Dan Levin, also have significant appellate experience, particularly in California courts. Few other firms have such deep appellate experience or so consistently represent companies in their most complex, high-value appellate matters. Some of our recent matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and courts of appeals include representing: The American Hospital Association before the U.S. Supreme Court in successfully challenging a Medicare rule change that denied hospitals more than $4 billion in past reimbursements and threatened to deny billions more in reimbursements going forward. The U.S. House of Representatives in successfully defeating in the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The State of North Carolina in successfully arguing on behalf of the state in the U.S. Supreme Court that the Constitution’s Elections Clause does not strip state courts of their power to enforce state constitutions that limit the power of state legislatures when they set rules for federal elections. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit in winning an emergency application to the Supreme Court to vacate stays placed on construction of a gas pipeline, and then winning a complete dismissal by a Fourth Circuit panel of lawsuits brought by the project’s opponents. The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico in successfully defeating in the U.S. Supreme Court a constitutional challenge to the Board’s authority. American Express Company in successfully establishing pathmarking antitrust precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court on multi-sided platforms. Lyft, Inc. in successful appeals in the First, Second, and Ninth Circuits defining the scope of the transportation-worker exception to the Federal Arbitration Act as applied to rideshare drivers and local delivery drivers. The four largest freight railroads in the United States in persuading the D.C. Circuit, in a sweeping antitrust matter that consolidates approximately 100 price-fixing cases against four rail carriers, to exclude on statutory grounds certain evidence relating to discussions between railroads about interline shipping. A national pharmacy chain, in a Sixth Circuit appeal of a $650 million verdict arising out of multidistrict litigation concerning the opioid crisis. Grayscale Investments, LLC, in successfully challenging in the D.C. Circuit a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deny a proposal by a national securities exchange to list and trade shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as an exchange-traded fund. AbbVie Inc. in winning an important Third Circuit appeal affirming denial of class certification on ascertainability grounds in long-running putative class actions by direct and indirect drug purchasers. Wells Fargo Bank NA in the California Supreme Court in a case establishing that lenders and loan services are not obligated to protect a borrower’s economic interests when processing a mortgage modification application. Google LLC in setting an important precedent for obtaining mandamus relief for patent infringement matters, as well as in multiple Federal Circuit appeals. Steves & Sons in successfully defending in the Fourth Circuit a judgment in an antitrust case in Steves’ favor ordering divesture of a key asset by one of Steves’ suppliers and awarding millions of dollars in damages—the first time a court in private litigation under the Clayton Act has awarded divestiture as a remedy for a completed merger. An individual defendant in United States v. Blaszczak et al. in securing a favorable decision from the Second Circuit overturning a first-of-its-kind criminal conviction that applied federal criminal fraud statutes to the alleged misuse of confidential government information. BNSF Railway Company in numerous successful Ninth Circuit appeals involving issues such as discriminatory taxation and preemption under the ICC Termination Act and other federal laws. Numerous public companies in successful representations in derivative suits and putative securities class actions in the Ninth Circuit. International organizations such as the International Finance Corporation and Interpol in appeals in numerous courts concerning international organizational immunity in the United States. Farmers and landowners in successfully defending in the Federal Circuit a trial court ruling awarding more than $10 million in compensation for the taking of farmlands through recurring flooding along the Missouri River that was caused by massive river alterations made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Munger, Tolles & Olson also has an active practice in the U.S. Supreme Court in seeking or opposing grants of certiorari and in representing amici at all stages.  The firm is skilled at handling and opposing mandamus petitions and petitions for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f).  And the firm’s appellate lawyers frequently handle dispositive motions and other complex legal issues in trial courts and in front of regulatory agencies, where they work closely with trial teams to frame the issues in the most persuasive manner possible and to preserve issues for appeal.   Contact: Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. Ginger D. Anders Elaine J. Goldenberg Benjamin J. Horwich Daniel B. Levin Jeffrey Y. Wu

Munger, Tolles & Olson has a unique, nationally renowned copyright and trademark practice. We advise entertainment, media, fashion companies and others on their most important matters. We defend the rights of intellectual property owners in high-stakes litigation. We help our clients establish vital precedents and defend the IP behind global entertainment franchises. And we are involved in the most cutting-edge matters at the intersection of intellectual property rights and technological change.

The firm continuously seeks innovative ways to support our lawyers, not only in their careers at work, but also in their efforts to integrate the demands on the job with their other interests and commitments. Examples include: Hope Street Friends:  To support its working parents, Munger Tolles co-founded this state-of-the-art childcare facility and early education center next door to the firm’s offices in downtown Los Angeles. Hope Street Friends is the first law firm-sponsored child care center on the West Coast and has the capacity to serve 88 children from infancy to pre-kindergarten ages. Subsidized Back-Up Care:  The firm provides all employees with subsidized back-up child care through Bright Horizons and in-home care nationwide for children and adult relatives. Reduced-Hours Policy:  The firm’s reduced-hours policy allows attorneys who work reduced hours to remain on track toward partnership. The firm actively monitors the reduced-hours program to assist attorneys in not exceeding their targeted hours and in continuing to build their practice and progress toward partnership. In fact, since 2012, two reduced-hours attorneys have been promoted to equity partner, with the expectation that the reduced-hours schedule would continue for as long as the attorneys desired. Generous Parental Leave:  Attorneys may take up to 18 weeks of parental leave within the first year following the birth or adoption of a child, and an additional 6-8 weeks for pregnancy disability. Both have the option of taking additional unpaid leave as well. On-Ramp/Off-Ramp Mentoring:  The firm offers additional mentoring to help attorneys transition to and from leaves of absence. Flexible Work Arrangements:  Munger Tolles has no facetime requirement. We recognize that outside commitments often require attorneys to be away from the office, and we provide significant resources to help attorneys work remotely, from home or elsewhere. Support for Nursing Mothers:  Munger Tolles offers nursing mothers benefits to make work easier, including Milk Stork for work travel, door locks and in-office refrigerators.

Created in 2014 by two male associates, the group is an important support network and resource for attorney parents seeking to balance work and family life. Here are just a few of the ways the Attorney Parents Group supports and encourages working parents, both inside and outside the firm: Sharing Experiences And Resources Regular events:  The Attorney Parents Group hosts lunches and other events at which Munger Tolles attorneys discuss their personal experiences as working parents, offer advice and answer questions. These informal events provide opportunities for honest discussion of the challenges and joys of raising young children while working as an attorney, and have included panel presentations, interviews of attorneys (including by their children!) and presentations by outside speakers, as well as occasional social lunches to facilitate one-on-one discussions. Resources:  The Attorney Parents Group maintains an email forum in which attorneys can ask questions and offer recommendations, advice and support regarding raising young children, as well as a compilation of past recommendations and resources. Mentoring:  The Attorney Parents Group also provides mentoring resources for current and future parents, including new attorneys and those returning from parental leave, to help navigate the demands of being a working parent generally, and specifically a working parent at Munger Tolles. Community Involvement Munger Tolles attorneys regularly participate in panel discussions at law schools addressing the experience of working as a lawyer while raising young kids. For each of the past three years, for example, members of the Attorney Parents Group have assembled a panel of Munger Tolles attorneys to discuss balancing work and family at UCLA School of Law. Our attorneys have presented similar panels at Stanford and other law schools in recent years. To learn more about the Attorney Parents Group, please contact co-chair Emily C. Curran-Huberty.

Here are just a few of the ways the LGBTQ Initiative supports and encourages LGBTQ attorneys, both inside and outside the firm: Pro Bono Leadership Munger Tolles has a long tradition of doing pro bono work in support of LGBTQ rights, which has allowed many attorneys in the LGBTQ Initiative to give back to their communities in concrete and meaningful ways. Examples of LGBTQ-focused pro bono work include: Filing an amicus brief in support of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges on behalf of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom with 30 other bar organizations nationwide; Successfully defending California legislation prohibiting state-licensed therapists from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts – sometimes called “reparative” or “conversion” therapy – on minors; Filing amicus briefs in various cases throughout the country challenging school rules prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identities; With co-counsel at Lambda Legal, representing a transgender veteran in obtaining a permanent injunction barring a local barbershop that had denied service from engaging in further discrimination based on sex; Working with Human Rights First, achieving victory in immigration court for a 24-year-old Honduran transgender woman seeking refuge in the United States; and Working with Immigration Equality, securing a grant of asylum for a Russian national following persecution in her home country as an individual who identifies as genderqueer. Building An Inclusive Community At Munger Tolles Social Events:  The LGBTQ Initiative hosts informal networking and community-building gatherings throughout the year, including affinity group dinners and an annual event for LGBTQ attorneys and summer associates. Domestic Partner Health Benefits:  Munger Tolles provides health benefits not only to spouses, but also to domestic partners. Thanks in part to the advocacy of our LGBTQ attorneys, we were one of the first firms to “gross-up” health insurance benefits for same-sex domestic partners to correct for inequalities in the tax code. Community Involvement In 2017, the LGBTQ Initiative began sponsoring the Outfest LA Film Festival, which supports films and filmmakers in the LGBTQ community. The sponsorship helps bridge the firm’s LGBTQ affinity group and the broader Munger Tolles community by supporting and sponsoring both LGBTQ issues and the firm’s entertainment practice. Additionally, for more than a decade, Munger Tolles has supported the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA School of Law dedicated to the field of sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. Since 2014, we have been the exclusive sponsor of the Williams Institute’s Annual LGBT and Allies Alumni Reception, which connects members of the Williams Institute with LGBT alumni and affinity groups from four law schools in the greater Los Angeles area. The LGBTQ Initiative has also been a proud supporter of the Lambda Legal West Coast Liberty Awards, the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom Annual Gala, the USC OUTLaw Endowment Reception and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel’s Annual Reception. To learn more about the LGBTQ Initiative, please contact co-chairs Jennifer L. Bryant and David W. Moreshead.

From Hollywood to Silicon Valley to Wall Street, our lawyers are tackling the most high-profile cases across a range of industries and shaping the corporate landscape. Our low leverage model means all of our lawyers – from our first-year attorneys to our most senior attorneys – play critical roles in every matter.

We look for individuals who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their prior pursuits and who bring both intellectual curiosity and a sense of individuality to an already extremely talented group of lawyers. We welcome applications from all highly qualified candidates regardless of practice area. Please click here to apply. If you are a search firm and would like to submit a candidate for a position, please click here. Please note that we do not pay recruitment or placement fees to search firms for any entry level candidates or candidates applying directly from judicial clerkships. For additional inquiries, please contact: Ms. Kara Sommers, Director of Legal Recruiting Tel. (213) 452-5595 Kara.Sommers@mto.com

From informal to structured training, Munger, Tolles & Olson is committed to the long-term professional development of all attorneys. Because our attorneys have so much latitude in how they build their practice, they are empowered to take advantage of a range of options available to them both inside and outside the firm. On-The-Job Training and Feedback Munger, Tolles & Olson’s low leverage model and culture of collegiality means attorneys work in closely knit teams. This naturally lends itself to meaningful early responsibility and ongoing feedback from team members. Informal assessments are supplemented by a biannual associate review through which each associate receives a formal review of performance and progress. Regular evaluations allow for two-way communication and ensure that associates are provided with meaningful career development opportunities. In-House Training Program Throughout the year, Munger, Tolles & Olson offers training programs featuring in-house or outside speakers. For example, associates during their first year are invited to attend our New Attorney Retreat, where they receive an introduction to various aspects of the firm, including ethical issues, community involvement and our pro bono practice. Further training programs are fashioned for new attorneys, including Succeeding in Your First Law Firm Job and Nuts and Bolts of Motion Practice. Other in-house training topics have included Constructing a Cross-Examination, Interviewing Witnesses, Anatomy of an M&A Transaction and Negotiation Skills. The firm holds a variety of trainings for junior attorneys, including: Preparing for Depositions, Working with Experts, Propounding Written Discovery, California Civil Procedure, Jury Selection Training, Opening Statements, Direct and Cross Examination at Trial and Closing Arguments. Munger, Tolles also hosts a two-day National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) deposition seminar, which enables attorneys to craft a successful and unique deposition style. Other examples of structured pieces of training offered by the firm include: Writing Workshops: The firm has historically hosted Bryan A. Garner, editor of Black’s Law Dictionary and an expert in legal writing and persuasion, for an all-day writing workshop, as well as an internal writing workshop led by senior lawyers. Writing workshops have included topics on the Nuts & Bolts of Filing & Motion Practice, Write a Better Brief and Some Brief Talking About Brief Writing. Public Speaking Workshops: The firm has hosted Brian Johnson and Marsha Hunter, communication consultants who train new Assistant U.S. Attorneys at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center, for a seminar and workshop on honing oral presentation skills. We have also engaged Cara Hale Alter for SpeechSkills, a training to help lawyers build career transforming presentation skill sets. Weekly Attorney Lunches: Munger, Tolles & Olson’s twice-weekly attorney lunches often function as training and continuing legal education (CLE) opportunities. Outside speaker are frequently featured, while other lunches highlight firm attorneys who share experiences and insights from current or recent matters. External Training Opportunities Beyond the firm, we encourage attorneys to engage with and learn from the legal community at large. Our attorneys regularly attend a range of external training programs and conferences, from the NITA Trial Advocacy Program to the Hastings Women Leadership Academy, as well as various conventions for local, state and national bar associations, including the ABA and the Federal Bar Association. Attorneys are actively encouraged to pursue and take advantage of pieces of training offered in their practice areas or in areas in which they may have a particular interest. As we have done over the past several years, select senior associates will participate in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s (LCLD) Pathfinder Program, a relationship-building and leadership training program for diverse attorneys. The firm also participates in LCLD’s Fellows Program, which serves lawyers with 3-7 years of practice. The firm continues to encourage our diverse lawyers to participate in other professional development programs through organizations like the California Minority Counsel Program, Hispanic National Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Ms. JD and others. In addition, attorneys have the opportunity to gain trial experience by working for four months on a pro bono basis at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office or the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. Mentoring Munger, Tolles & Olson attorneys have always engaged in formal and informal mentoring. Our low-leverage structure and weekly firm lunches foster an environment in which relationships develop organically. Our formal mentoring program has two tiers, in which all attorneys participate: one for newer attorneys learning to navigate the firm and the practice of law, and a second tier for mid-level attorneys seeking to sharpen their legal skills and develop their own practice. Specialized mentoring is also provided to attorneys transitioning to and from parental leave, and we have increased the availability of affinity group mentorships. Women+ Initiative Founded in 1998, Munger, Tolles & Olson’s Women+ Initiative brings together a diverse group of women and men from the firm’s three offices, who are committed to: Recruiting and retaining women attorneys, with a particular focus on diverse women attorneys; Providing women attorneys with tools to facilitate and support successful legal careers; Ensuring that the firm is at the forefront of setting policies that foster an environment where women attorneys can build and lead successful legal careers; and Working to ensure that women attorneys are adequately represented across the leadership of the firm, its practice groups and with its clients. The Women+ Initiative works closely with the firm’s other diversity initiatives, as well as with external organizations with similar missions, to identify and adopt best practices that will advance these goals. Our Women+ Initiative also hosts regular lunch discussions and training sessions covering a range of topics related to female professionals, career development, and advancement in the legal profession.

After serving more than 15 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, Nassir Cauthon has been released based on newly discovered evidence of his factual innocence. In December 2020, an Ohio trial court judge granted the Munger, Tolles & Olson team’s motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence of innocence – the recantations of essentially all the state’s trial witnesses – and then granted the motion to release Mr. Cauthon on bond. The Munger Tolles team initially represented Mr. Cauthon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, but brought a new state-court proceeding after an additional witness came forward to recant her trial testimony. The Ohio trial court judge found that this witness’s affidavit alone warranted a new trial, and also agreed that he should consider all the recantations, which only further strengthened Mr. Cauthon’s case. On April 28, 2021, the State of Ohio filed a nolle prosequi, abandoning all the charges in the case. The Munger, Tolles & Olson team included partners Robyn Bacon and Elaine Goldenberg and associate Brendan Gants. 

Parties to a lawsuit challenging New Mexico’s foster care system announced on March 26, 2020 a groundbreaking settlement agreement that will provide a model for reforming other state child welfare systems across the country. Munger, Tolles & Olson, along with lawyers from Public Counsel and Stanford’s Youth & Education Law Project (YELP), served as lead counsel for 14 foster children and two non-profit organizations that brought the case against the State of New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) and Human Services Department (HSD). The settlement agreement has garnered national media attention including coverage in The New York Times and by the Associated Press.  Drawing on scientific discoveries on the effects of trauma on children’s behavior and development, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, entitled Kevin S. v. Blalock, alleged that trauma-impacted children and youth in New Mexico foster care were not being placed in appropriate homes or facilities, were not receiving needed behavioral health services and were experiencing additional traumas because of a flawed foster care system. The settlement requires New Mexico to fundamentally re-orient its foster care system so that it addresses and mitigates trauma, provides children with appropriate placements and gives them access to behavioral health care services. It also recognizes and addresses the specific needs and interests of Native American children in foster care. The settlement’s focus on trauma-responsiveness and on Native American children sets it apart from past efforts to reform state child welfare systems. Munger, Tolles & Olson litigation partner Grant Davis-Denny puts the importance of trauma responsiveness into perspective: “Almost half a million U.S. children are in foster care, and nearly all enter state custody having experienced multiple traumatic events, ranging from neglect to outright abuse. That itself is a national tragedy. But even worse, child welfare systems across the country not only fail to treat childhood trauma, but actually re-traumatize our nation’s most challenged kids.”  “New Mexico is blazing a new path forward by re-orienting its foster care system to take account of and prevent childhood trauma, and other states should follow suit,” Mr. Davis-Denny adds. Munger, Tolles & Olson attorney Grant Davis-Denny led the firm’s efforts in representing the plaintiffs alongside Public Counsel, Stanford’s YELP and non-profit and law firm attorneys based in New Mexico. 

Munger Tolles, alongside the Disability Rights Legal Center (“DRLC”), has secured a $400,000 judgment on behalf of a former student of Western University of Health Sciences, who alleged the university failed to properly accommodate her learning disabilities. The judgment, which was entered as a part of a settlement between the student and the university, ended six years of litigation in federal court.  “This settlement vindicates Lindsay Rogers’ claims that Western University should have accommodated her disabilities. Cases like this are central to DRLC’s mission of working to ensure that people with disabilities are provided appropriate accommodations,” said Joseph Lee, a partner of the firm who also serves as President of DRLC’s Board of Directors.  In addition to Mr. Lee, the Munger Tolles team included litigation associate Rowley Rice. To learn more about the judgment and the case, click here.