John Spiegel

John W. Spiegel is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Mr. Spiegel is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and ranked by Chambers USA as a “leading lawyer” in general commercial, securities and white collar litigation.

Before joining Munger Tolles, Mr. Spiegel clerked for Justice Byron White of the Supreme Court of the United States and served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he tried approximately two dozen cases in United States District Court. He also served as Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, where his primary responsibilities were in the area of international economic policy.

Mr. Spiegel played first on the varsity tennis team at Stanford University and received the “Block S” award for the varsity athlete with the highest grade point average. He continues to compete in USTA national tournaments.

Key Representations:

• Representing the owners of the Los Angeles Clippers in litigation against the owner of The Forum and Madison Square Garden, challenging the development of a new arena for the Clippers in Inglewood, California.
• Represented Transocean Ltd., the parent company and indirect owner of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, in shareholder derivative litigation and federal securities cases arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, obtained dismissals with prejudice.
• Represented Warner Bros. in litigation with actor Charlie Sheen arising from his termination from the television series Two and a Half Men. In 2012, he received a California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Award for his representation of Warner Bros. in this case.
• Lead trial counsel in successful defense of leading biotechnology company in $100 million breach of contract claim brought by Fortune 50 pharmaceutical company.
• Represented Mattel and its officers and directors in litigation arising out of the recall of toys manufactured in China; named one of the top ten California defense verdicts of 2009 by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
• Represented former officers and directors of IndyMac Bank and New Century Financial Corporation in litigation and investigations arising from the financial crisis.
• Obtained an arbitration award for Occidental Petroleum against Chevron Texaco regarding the allocation of costs in the operation of a major oil field, with an award of $2.3 million in attorneys’ fees.

Education:

• Yale Law School (J.D., 1976); editor in chief, Yale Law Journal, 1975-1976
• Stanford University (M.S., 1972; M.A., 1977)
• Stanford University (A.B., with great distinction, 1970) Phi Beta Kappa

Bar Admissions:

• California
• District of Columbia