Bleich, who served as Ambassador for four years, will also work on expanding the firm’s international practice, with a particular emphasis on Asia.

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador in 2009, Bleich was special counsel to US President Barack Obama.

“Our firm has a long history of attorneys leaving, and then returning, from government service and Jeff is certainly among our most distinguished of this group,” said Sandra Seville-Jones, Munger Tolles’ managing partner.

Munger Tolles’ name partner Ronald Olson commented: “Jeff is a leadership lawyer whose strategic vision will add value for our clients and whose community commitment will continue to advance our state and country.”

Bleich joined Munger Tolles in 1992 and became a partner three years later. As a litigator, he represented a number of high-profile clients, including Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Microsoft, American Standard and Time Warner.

Bleich has also served as president of the California State Bar, president of the San Francisco Bar Association and director of the White House Commission on Youth Violence.

Munger Tolles employs a total of 185 lawyers across its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices.

San Francisco litigation partner Rosemarie Ring revealed that Bleich recruited and mentored many of the firm’s attorneys.

“He will have a tremendous impact mentoring future leaders of our firm and guiding our practice development efforts,” she added.

The full-service firm has a one-to-one partner-to-associate ratio and counts among its current clients Bank of America, Transocean, Edison International and Verizon.