Described by Chambers and Partners as “a brilliant strategist,” Michael Proctor specializes in the difficult case, with a particular focus on white-collar criminal defense and complex commercial litigation. He is a trial lawyer who relishes the tough fights on behalf of his clients. The Los Angeles Daily Journal has called him as one of “the state’s most renowned criminal defense attorneys,” and has named him one of the Top 100 lawyers in the state of California.

Michael has successfully represented numerous corporate and individual clients in criminal, quasi-criminal, and civil matters. Those matters have included the representation of top executives of the nation’s largest corporations in the context of criminal investigations and charges, as well as matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies. In the civil context, Michael has represented all manner of companies, law firms, and professional service firms in complex civil and commercial litigation. A list of representative matters is located here. He also was appointed as an Independent Prosecutor to investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute charges against the United States Attorney’s Office for submitting materially false declarations/testimony to the Court.

In addition, throughout his career, Michael has taken on a significant number of pro bono and public service matters, often for members of underserved communities. He was awarded the 2013 ACLU Pro Bono Services Award in 2013 and the United States District Court Pro Bono Award in 2017. He has served on the Standing Committee on Discipline for the United States District Court (C.D. Cal.), investigating and adjudicating members of the Central District bar referred for alleged violation of professional standards.

Michael has taught trial advocacy at the University of San Francisco School of Law Intensive Advocacy Program. He is also the co-author of Federal Criminal Practice, a leading treatise on all aspects of federal criminal practice, published by James Publishing.

Michael was formerly a named partner at Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, which he joined in 2002 from the Los Angeles Office of the Federal Public Defender. He was most recently the founder and Managing Partner of the Los Angeles Office of at Durie Tangri LLP. He began his career at San Francisco’s Keker & Van Nest (now Keker Van Nest & Peters).

Michael graduated from Yale Law School in 1990, where he won the school’s two top prizes for oral and written advocacy, and served as an Assistant in Instruction in Constitutional Law under Professor Akhil Reed Amar. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of California at Berkeley.