Ronald L. Olson, Co-Chairman

Ranked first on California Law Business’s list of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in 1998, Ron Olson advises many of the nation’s most important businesses.

Mr. Olson is a partner in the prestigious Los Angeles, California law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP —www.mto.com— where he specializes in commercial litigation and counseling executives and boards of directors. He has represented such companies as Berkshire Hathaway, Shell, Merrill Lynch, Edison International, Microsoft, and Universal Studios. He has represented clients in some of California’s most historic matters, including the electricity crisis and several landmark antitrust suits, and negotiated the $400 million settlement of the Orange County bankruptcy case.

Mr. Olson currently chairs the Board of Trustees for the RAND Corporation. He is a director of Berkshire Hathaway, Edison International, City National Corporation, Washington Post Company, California Institute of Technology, Southern California Public Radio, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Mayo Clinic Foundation.

In 1963, Mr. Olson received his B.S. degree from Drake University. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 1966, and a Diploma in Law from Oxford University, England, in 1967. He began his career as an attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and in 1968 clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Mr. Olson has written for numerous law publications and journals. He is both a leading business trial lawyer and spokesman for alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Olson also provides pro bono representation to various community organizations, including Skid Row service providers.

Ron Olson and his wife Jane live in Pasadena, California, and have three grown children.