Brian Russell Michaels

Senior attorney Brian Michaels is a 20-year veteran of the Southern California Criminal Courts. Attorney Michaels is a 4th generation Angeleno and spent his formative years in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles before moving with his family in Junior High School to the San Fernando Valley where he graduated from Birmingham High School.

After High School, Mr. Michaels attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where he majored in Political Science and International Relations with the intent of becoming involved in politics with Law School as his post graduate goal. As an Undergraduate Mr. Michaels began his legal career working as a Legal Assistant for the Legal Defense Center of Santa Barbara where he worked on legal issues affecting the local homeless population.

He took his first political job working as an Intern for State Senator Gary Hart and ran his campuses Government Internship Program while in Santa Barbara. He would later go on to work on Presidental Campaigns for Senators Bill Bradley and Bob Kerry.

Mr. Michaels began law school in the early 1990s. During Law School, and as a result of his academic achievement he was the #1 ranked student in his law school class for two years running. He was one of two students to be accepted onto his law school’s Law Review based solely on academic achievement. He received multiple scholastic honors and scholarships based solely on academic performance graduating on the Dean’s List.

While in Law School Attorney Michaels was selected from hundreds of applicants to work as Law Clerk for the Honorable Earl Johnson Jr. at the Second Appellate Court of Appeals. As a a Law Clerk Michaels researched and authored Memorandum opinion for the court, one of which was published and became precedent setting law in California.

After passing the California State Bar on his first attempt Michaels was hand picked by then Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn to work first as a Criminal Prosecutor and later as a Civil Litigation Attorney for the Los Angeles Police Department at the height of the infamous Rampart Scandal.

Brian Michaels is a member of the California State Bar, Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange County State Bar, Americans For Safe Access, California DUI Lawyer’s Association, California Association of Criminal Trial Lawyers, and NORML. Michaels is also a member of Mensa International and Lawyers in Mensa, an elite organization whose membership includes individuals in the top 2 percent of IQ in the world based solely on sophisticated IQ testing.