| Brian Michaels is a former prosecutor with over eight years of experience at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Appointed by former City Attorney James Hahn, Mr. Michaels handled hundreds of criminal cases and tried nearly 70 jury trials. He distinguished himself as a prosecutor by achieving a nearly 95% conviction rate. Additionally, Mr. Michaels trained new prosecutors in trial practice, and has successfully prosecuted numerous high profile cases.
After serving as a criminal prosecutor, Mr. Michaels transferred to the Los Angeles Police Department’s civil litigation department, where he was assigned to defend the LAPD of wrongdoing in federal civil litigation. While with the “police unit,” Michaels successively defended the department and its officers in back to back federal jury trials at the height of the Rampart scandal.
 After serving another 2 years as a criminal prosecutor, Michaels retired to private practice where his primary focus is criminal defense. He has enjoyed the same level of success as a defense lawyer as he did while a prosecutor. His practice ranges from the most common offenses, such as Driving Under the Influence, to more complex felonies which carry substantial jail time.
Brian Michaels is a native Californian and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where he majored in Political Science. Mr. Michaels then went on to law school in Southern California area where he received numerous honors including Law Review. He regularly published scholarly articles, and he also received several academic scholarships.
In addition, Mr. Michaels was selected from hundreds of applicants and earned a clerkship with Appellate Court Justice Earl Johnson Jr. in the Los Angeles area. As a senior law clerk to Justice Johnson, Mr. Michaels drafted numerous opinions on behalf of the appellate court; some of which were published and became new law in the state. Mr. Michaels ultimately graduated law school with high honors.
Brian Michaels work has been featured in the press as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. As a prosecutor he litigated several higher profile cases which were featured in the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. More recently, Michaels gained prominence in recent defense cases where he was featured more broadly. Recent cases have been featured on KABC, KNBC, KCBS, Univision, CNN, and other news networks. Brian Michaels appeared as a guest on Greta Von Sustern Live and has had cases featured in both local newspapers and national publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post.
Brian Michaels has been working with law enforcement for nearly a decade and now brings his background, training, and extensive contacts to the defense of criminal cases. Both as a prosecutor and as a litigation attorney for L.A.P.D, Michaels has learned how prosecutions succeed, but more importantly, how to make them fail.
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