Mr. Michel is the firm’s Senior Partner. Mr. Michel’s practice now focuses on civil litigation, including firearms law, business litigation, unfair business practice litigation, contract disputes, civil rights advocacy, land use, and environmental law.

Mr. Michel began his career with a coveted judicial clerkship with U.S. District Court Judge William J. Rea in Los Angeles. He worked as a criminal prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and for several Southern California cities, and as an advocate with the Los Angeles Federal Public Defender's office. Mr. Michel also practiced environmental and general civil litigation as an attorney at the renowned international law firm of O'Melveny & Myers, LLP. While at O’Melveny, Mr. Michel represented all manner of clients, from individuals to multinational corporations. His varied experience includes representing Exxon Corporation in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and serving as Staff Counsel to the "Christopher Commission," which investigated the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the wake of the Rodney King incident under the leadership of former Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Mr. Michel has been lead counsel in more than 50 jury trials. He has represented a number of clients in high-profile cases that garnered significant state and national media attention. He has appeared as a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association of America, the California Rifle and Pistol Association and other associations, and for individual clients on dozens of television and radio interviews and in hundreds of newspaper articles. He has also published several articles and editorials in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily Journal and several other state and national newspapers. Professor Michel also teaches law as an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, Calif.

Mr. Michel graduated near the top of his class from both Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1980 as well as Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1989. While in law school, he won two prestigious awards for trial advocacy and writing skills – one through the U.S. Supreme Court. He has since been honored with numerous other awards.

California Gun-Ban Groups Shred Your Gun Rights. America's First Freedom (March 2010) 

Michel & Kates, Local Gun Bans: A Futile Exercise, 41 U.S.F. L. Rev. 333 (Winter 2007)                                                            

Why Pass an Ineffective Law on Guns?, America's First Freedom (October 2007) 

City Gun Ordinance is Worse than a Waste of Effort, Sacramento Bee (August 24, 2007)

Why Pass an Ineffective Law on Guns?, Ventura County Star (August 10, 2007)

A Do-Nothing Symbolic Law That Sends A Soap Box Message, Press Telegram (November 11, 2003)

Sloppy Gun Laws Confuse Owners, Law Enforcement, Law Enforcement, Los Angeles Times (July 23, 2001) 

Should Gun Owners Have a Waiting Period Before Purchasing a Gun?, Beverly Hills Weekly (August 24, 2000) 

Weapons Act That Includes Law-Abiding Gun Owners Is Irrational, Los Angeles Daily Journal (March 18, 1998)  

Saturday Night Special Anti-Gun Advocates Advance a Hidden Agenda, Santa Barbara News Press (February 22, 1998) 

Facts Don't Back Anti-Gun Crew, Los Angeles Daily Journal (October 13, 1997) 

Prohibition Misfires, Los Angeles Daily Journal (May 29, 1997)  

Handgun Ban Would Erode Our Right To Self-Defense, Daily Breeze (January 8, 1997) 

Reject Anti-Gun Law, Search for an Effective Alternative, Pasdena Star News (December 9, 1996), Page A-4, Column 1

A Ban that Will Backfire, Los Angeles Daily Journal (April 2, 1996)

The Real Victims Are the Gun Owners of L.A., Los Angeles Times (November 27, 1995)

California State Bar Association, 1989.

Environmental Law Section, California State Bar

Los Angeles County Bar Association

Long Beach Bar Association

Supreme Court of the United States, 1996.

Supreme Court of the State of California, 1989.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1991.

United States District Court: Northern District of California, 2004.

United States District Court: Eastern District of California, 1999.

United States District Court: Central District of California, 1989.

United States District Court: Southern District of California, 2009.

Association of Environmental Professionals

Professional Service Reserve Deputy, Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department

Peace Officer Association of Los Angeles County

California Trial Lawyers Association

California Attorneys for Criminal Justice

National Institute of Criminal Defense Attorneys

Association of Federal Defense Attorneys

California Public Defenders Association

American Inns of Court

Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, Aggeler Inn

Mensa

International Foundation for Crime Prevention

National Rifle Association, Life Benefactor Member

N.R.A. Business Alliance

California Rifle and Pistol Association, Life Member

Citizen’s Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Life Member

Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Life Member

Southern California Super Lawyer, 2009.

Gun Rights Defender of the Year, Citizen’s Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 2005.

National Leadership Award, National Republican Congressional Committee, 2005.

Legion of Honor, National Rifle Association, 1996 and 2004.

Most Valued Board Member, California Rifle and Pistol Association, 1997.

James Madison Award, Journalistic Excellence, Second Amendment Foundation, 1997.

Judge, Trial Advocacy Competition, Loyola Law School, 1992-present.

James Madison Award, Journalistic Excellence, Second Amendment Foundation, 1997.

Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Services, State Bar of California, 1992 and 1993.

Meritorious Service Award, United States District Court, Central District of California, 1990.

Dean’s Service Award, Loyola Law School, 1989.

Byrne Trial Advocacy Competition Winner, 1989.

Student Bar Association Vice President Service Award, Loyola Law School, 1988-89.

Who's Who Among American Law Students, 1988.

United States Supreme Court and West Publishing, National Bicentennial of the Constitution Law School Essay Competition, Ninth Circuit Regional Winner, 1987.

Ahmanson Foundation Scholarship Recipient.

Professional Service Reserve Courtse, Orange County Sheriff-Coroner.

Range Development and Operations Course, National Rifle Association.

Defensive Handgun Course, Front Sight Firearms Training Institute.

Trial Advocacy Training, National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Discovery and Depositions Training, National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Juris Doctorate, Loyola Law School.

Certificate of Achievement, Writer's Digest Magazine.

Scott Moot Court, Loyola Law School.

Pro Bono Services, Public Counsel Public Interest Law Office.

University of San Diego School of Law, Institute on International and Comparative Law.

Bachelor of Arts, Rutgers University.

Criminology, Criminal Investigation and Identification, Western College of Criminology.

Gun Rights Warrior Fights for NRA in California, Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 9, 2008.

Peninsula Lawyer Targets Gun Laws, Daily Breeze, July 4, 2008.

Ready on the Firing Line, Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 23, 1997.

District of Columbia v. Heller (U.S. 2008) 128 S. Ct. 2783. Co-Author of Amicus Brief for the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI), Maryland State Lodge, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, 29 Elected California District Attorneys, the San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association, the Long Beach Police Officers Association, Texas Police Chiefs Association, Texas Municipal Police Association, New York State Association of Auxiliary Police, Mendocino County, California Sheriff Thomas D. Allman, Oregon State Rep. Andy Olson, the National Police Defense Foundation, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and the Independence Institute in Support of Respondent. Heller determined that Second Amendment provides a fundamental and individual right to bear arms.

Fiscal v. City and County of San Francisco (2008) 158 Cal. App. 4th 895. Represented plaintiffs in n Fiscal, where the court struck down the City of San Francisco's referrendum prohibiting the possession of handguns and sale of firearms and ammunition, holding that it  was pre-empted under California law. The appeal resulted in a published opinion that clarified and, in some ways, redefined California’s preemption doctrine as applied to local firearms regulations.

In re Firearm Cases (2006) 126 Cal.App. 4th 959. Represented multiple defendants. The complaints in the three coordinated actions brought by dozens of California cities, counties, and representatives generally alleged that the defendants market, distribute, and design handguns in a manner that facilitates the use of the weapons to commit violent crime, fails to incorporate safety features, deceives the public about the dangers, circumvents federal, state and local laws and creates a public nuisance. Trial court granted an omnibus motion for summary judgment brought by various gun manufacturers, distributors, and trade associations. The trial court ruled against the cities, finding that no unfairness could be shown absent some connection between any practice of the gun manufacturers and the harm caused by illegal guns, and further found that the gun manufacturers' failure to implement changes in their business practices did not establish a violation of the UCL or a public nuisance. The Court of Appeal affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the gun manufacturers, distributors, and trade associations based on the cities' failure to establish a causal connection between the alleged unfair practices and the harm.

Association for a Cleaner Environment v. Yosemite Community College District, 116 Cal. App. 4th 629 (2004). Represented environmental watch-dog group in protracted environmental litigation involving multiple appeals from rulings of a hostile trial court. Successfully overturned trial court’s adverse rulings and forced a recalcitrant government agency to comply with California’s Environmental Quality Act.