From our earliest days, diversity and inclusion have been a focus at Munger, Tolles & Olson and deeply engrained in our firm culture. As with all of our client and community work, we strive to be creative, forward-thinking leaders in this arena.
A few of our recent, notable achievements include:
- Promoting gender inclusion. To strengthen our culture of inclusion and belonging, the firm recently completed the construction of gender-neutral restrooms. Additionally, the firm strongly encourages the use of personal pronouns in email signature blocks, firm materials such as the website and business cards, and at all firm events.
- Offering a market-leading parental leave policy. To further support working parents, the firm revised its parental leave policy in 2019. We now offer one of the most generous policies among top law firms, including 18 weeks of paid leave for all parents, plus an additional 6 to 8 weeks of paid disability leave for birth parents.
- Successfully implementing the Mansfield Rule. In addition to helping to create and pilot the Mansfield Rule, Munger, Tolles & Olson has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus status for five consecutive years. The Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification (July 2021-July 2022) measured whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30% women, lawyers from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities and tracked the makeup of historically underrepresented lawyers in the candidate pools by demographic group for the following significant leadership roles and activities in the firm:
- Equity partner promotions
- Lateral partner and senior associate hiring searches and openings
- Election or appointment to leadership and governance roles
- Hiring for or promotion to the firm’s most senior professional staff roles
- Nominations for Chambers USA 2022 in at least two practice areas
- Participation in formal client pitches for multiple practice groups
- Transparent job responsibilities and processes for governance appointments/elections.
- The Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification Plus status required that, in addition to meeting or exceeding the baseline certification requirements, firms have successfully reached at least 30% underrepresented lawyer representation considered for 70% or more of the roles/activities noted above. The firm is currently in the certification process for Mansfield Rule 6.0.
- Consistently promoting diverse attorneys to equity partners.
Those electing to spend seven to ten weeks at MTO will also be awarded the full $15,000 (less applicable taxes and withholdings) of the first installment of our 2L Inclusivity Scholarship. Those who elect to spend a portion of their 2L summer at MTO will be required to spend a minimum of three and a maximum of four weeks at the firm, and will be awarded a pro-rated installment of our 2L Inclusivity Scholarship, based on the number of weeks spent as a 2L summer associate at the firm.
- All 2L touchback summer associates will be paid the same weekly salary as other participants in our summer associate program and will be eligible to be considered for a full-time offer to return to the firm after graduation or upon completion of a judicial clerkship. The balance of our 2L Inclusivity Scholarship ($10,000, less applicable taxes and withholdings) is contingent upon receiving a full-time associate offer and will be paid when the Scholar joins the firm.
- As of 2023, all Munger, Tolles & Olson Inclusivity Scholarship recipients will be given the option to receive their scholarship payment directly or have it sent to their law school.
While we are proud of our accomplishments, we know there is still much work to be done. We welcome the next generation of ideas and leadership in continuing to expand the diversity of the legal profession.