Michael D. Williamson

Michael Williamson has been an associate with the firm since 2005, including working as an attorney while he was still an active duty LAPD sergeant. He has been an accomplished litigator since 2005 with experience in police representation practices. He primarily specializes in police defense litigation, criminal law, and family law.

Michael Williamson has successfully completed criminal jury trials, family law trials, child dependency trials, prohibited firearms possessor trials, federal civil trials, and numerous police employment disciplinary trials, including at least 75 LAPD Boards of Rights trials.

He is a retired Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant. While with LAPD, he was assigned to the Officer Representation Section, providing counsel and representation during administrative investigations and adjudication proceedings. His prior assignments include sergeant and complaint investigator, uniform patrol sergeant, academy law instructor, uniform patrol field training officer, uniform patrol, tactics instructor, firearms instructor, and Drug Recognition Expert.

He received his basic, intermediate, advanced and supervisory certificates through the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), and is a member of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Michael Williamson has extensive experience teaching internal affairs investigation and law. From 1995-2009, he taught internal affairs, law and police employee rights at the Los Angeles Police Academy. From 1995-1997, he was a full-time internal affairs teacher, and law instructor, at the Los Angeles Police Academy. Until 2009, he worked part-time as an instructor for recruits and the in-service personnel training program.

For more than fifteen years, Michael taught criminal justice at Santa Ana College, including Evidence, Criminal Investigation, and Introduction to Criminal Justice classes. In addition to teaching at Santa Ana College, he taught the internal affairs class for California State Long Beach, Center for Criminal Justice.

Prior to attending college, he joined the United States Marine Corp and, after receiving initial training in South Carolina, served his assignment in California. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department, and remained on the Department for more than 25 years. While serving as an LAPD officer, he was awarded more than 50 commendations for exceptional duty performance and commended for bravery while saving a life, while he was under an attacker’s gunfire. He also served as a Riverside County Deputy Sheriff (patrol/investigations), and as an Orange County Deputy Marshal (court services), providing 30 years of police service.

Michael is a panel attorney for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Los Angeles Police Command Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, and the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. He responds to critical incidents involving officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths, and represents officers in Shooting Review Boards. He has vigorously represented peace officers from all over California in internal affairs investigations during their interrogations.

Admission

• U.S. District Court (C.D. Cal.)
• U.S. District Court (S.D. Cal.)
• U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.)
• Michigan 43rd District Court – pro hac vice
• Us Supreme Court
• California Supreme Court

Education

• William Howard Taft University, School of Law (2003)
  Juris Doctor
• August Vollmer University (1994)
  Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice