Munger Tolles builds corporate practice with marquee hire

A veteran M&A lawyer who worked on some of the biggest entertainment deals in recent years has come out of retirement to help Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP expand its corporate practice.

Andrew D. Garelick guided The Walt Disney Company through its $4.5B Lucasfilm acquisition and Disney+ platform development, as well as representing music industry titans Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre in Apple's acquisition of Beats. He also played a crucial role in Caesar Entertainment Corporation's strategic transitions and Scopely Inc.'s sale to Savvy Games Group.

Garelick retired last year from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

"The opportunity to lead MTO's corporate practice was compelling enough to bring me back to active practice," he said. "I'm here to help lead that next phase of expansion and acceleration of the group's growth."

Garelick's arrival comes at a crucial time for the firm. Last spring, the bulk of its corporate practice decamped to Baker McKenzie.

Brad Brian, chairman of Munger, Tolles & Olson, said the law firm waited until the time was right to build a new corporate team.

"If you look at the history of the firm, we make decisions based on hiring the best people. We opened the Washington, D.C. office because we had the opportunity to hire Don Verrilli," Brian recalled. "Now we had the opportunity to bring in Andy, who we think is one of the premier corporate M&A lawyers on the West Coast. That just fits with who we are. We're thrilled by the opportunity."

Verrilli was the U.S. solicitor general during the Obama administration.

Name partner Ron Olson said the fact that Garelick agreed to join the law firm was a testament to its culture.

"As the business of law evolves, we remain steadfast in our core values, and it all starts with a simple idea: the most talented attorneys can solve the toughest problems," Olson said. "Andy fits the mold. He is a proven leader and dealmaker, and his broad corporate practice is the perfect fit for our firm and our clients who place a premium on working with attorneys prepared to address multi-dimensional legal challenges. His talent and drive will be a tremendous asset to our firm."

Garelick agreed that he was drawn to the firm's strategic approach to growth focused on quality and efficiency rather than traditional leverage ratios of multiple associates per partner.

"These challenges will be transactional, some will unfortunately end up as restructurings or recapitalizations, others will involve consolidation and deconsolidation and inevitably disputes and litigation," Garelick explained. "The resources, talent, and multidisciplinary approach that MTO brings to solving their clients' problems is going to be in high demand over the next decade and beyond. Munger Tolles is extraordinarily well positioned to help clients navigate that environment."

Brian said the firm's secret sauce lies in prioritizing top talent and allowing attorneys to develop without being confined to rigid categories.

"We view ourselves as problem solvers, and that applies to our corporate colleagues as well as our litigators," he said. "We find ourselves being pulled into difficult, challenging, cutting-edge problems both in the transactional space and in litigation. That's why we look for the smartest people who can wrestle with problems and have the desire to win on the litigation side and solve problems for clients."