Description:

Years of Experience
Attorneys with 1 - 3 years of experience in patent litigation.

Academic Requirements
Outstanding achievement, including law school record, references, and proven litigation and writing skills. Our lawyers generally ranked high in their class at top tier law schools. A technical degree or work experience is preferred.

Admission to CA Bar
Preferred but not required initially. Patent Office registration is a plus, but not necessary.

Type of Experience
Strong understanding of the patent laws.

Type of Work
Patent infringement litigation in district court, Federal Circuit appeals, PTAB proceedings, tech transactions, and patent-adjacent work such as antitrust and trade secret cases.

Level of Responsibility
Depends on the associate and the particular case, but typically associates will be heavily involved in overall strategizing, briefing, and depositions, as well as trial.

Degree of Client Contact
Typically a considerable amount.

Travel:
Depends, but as our clients are located throughout the country, travel is sometimes necessary.

Billable Hours
We expect that under ordinary circumstances all full-time associates will strive to work at least 2,000 hours per year on client matters for which time is recorded (i.e., litigation or transactional matters, including pro bono).

Practice Area Summary
Our firm handles significant patent infringement matters for a wide variety of clients. Our cases to date have involved biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, computer software, computer hardware components, computer connectivity and networks, satellite technology, mechanical devices, telecommunications technology, and semiconductor technology.

Benefits of Coming to Munger, Tolles & Olson
Among the most interesting and cutting-edge patent litigation in the country; loyal and committed clients; early opportunity and responsibility, great lawyers to work with; an open, collegial, and progressive firm environment; terrific profit per partner and associate compensation history.

Salary Scale
2026 Annual Salaries

Law School Class Year Salary

2026 $225,000
2025 $225,000
2024 $235,000
2023 $260,000
2022 $310,000
2021 $365,000
2020 $390,000
2019 $420,000
2018 and earlier $435,000

The salary range is the one that Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP reasonably expects to pay for this position. The salary range does not guarantee, obligate, nor set expectations of an applicant's wage in the event of hire. The posted range is only one component of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP's Total Rewards package.