The story
Founded by Charlie Munger in 1962.1
Munger, Tolles & Hills was established in Downtown Los Angeles' Tishman Building on February 1, 1962. The firm was founded by three former partners from Musick, Peeler & Garrett: Charlie Munger, E. Leroy Tolles, and Roderick M. Hills.
The founding group included two additional Musick attorneys, Richard Esbenshade and Frederick B. Warder Jr. as well as Carla Anderson Hills, who was serving as an assistant U.S. attorney at the time and was married to Roderick Hills. James T. Wood, a sole practitioner with connections to the Hills family, also joined the founding team.
In 1965, Charles Munger departed the firm to focus on investment management, forming a partnership with Warren Buffett and later becoming vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, which remained a client of the firm. The addition of Charles E. Rickershauser Jr., a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, strengthened the firm's corporate practice and led to its renaming as Munger, Tolles, Hills & Rickershauser. Ronald Olson joined as an associate in 1968 and was elevated to partner in 1970.
MTO expanded and opened an office in San Francisco in 1991. In 2016, the firm employed former Solicitor General of the United States Donald B. Verrilli Jr. to establish its Washington, D.C. office.
In 2019, the MTO underwent a leadership transition, appointing Malcolm Heinicke and Hailyn Chen as co-managing partners, succeeding Brad Brian and Sandra Seville-Jones. Brian was named as firm chair. At the time of her election, Chen was only the second Asian woman to assume a leadership position at a major law firm. Malcolm and Hailyn served as co-managing partners from 2019-2025. Former U.S. Attorneys and veteran firm partners Martin Estrada and Daniel Levin became the firm's new co-managing partners in November 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Munger, Tolles & Olson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4