Michael Hernandez is known in the legal community as an expert trial strategist and has a reputation for winning the most difficult cases. In law school, Michael interned for the San Diego Public Defender’s office. Michael worked on hundreds of cases and successfully tried cases to a jury before he was a licensed attorney. Michael’s countless hours working on high-profile murder cases landed him the prestigious award of San Diego Volunteer of the Month for the County of San Diego in December 2012.
After passing the CA Bar Exam, Michael was quickly hired as a lead criminal defense trial attorney. In Michael’s first and second year as an attorney, Michael won the most criminal defense jury trials in the county of San Diego which resulted in not guilty or hung verdicts, including six straight trial wins. Most notably, Michael represented a successful rap artist who was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana. After a full acquittal, Michael’s client expressed his gratitude and gave Michael recognition in a rap song featured in his newest album.
In 2016, Michael moved to Wyoming for the summer to work at the famous Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College. He improved his litigation skills by working with professional actors and the best trial attorneys in the world, including Gerry Spence. After graduating from the Trial Lawyers College, Michael was quickly promoted to handle serious and violent felonies. Michael specialized in high-profile drug cartel smuggling cases.
Since establishing his own practice, Michael has consistently delivered substantial victories for his clients, securing multiple verdicts in the seven and eight figures. This includes a landmark $18 million verdict in an insurance bad faith action where his clients were offered $27,000.00 before trial. Opposing counsel stated, “The jury in this case returned one of the largest and most punishing bad faith insurance verdicts in California history.”
Michael is often consulted and brought on to serious cases by other attorneys in the community to aid in trial strategy and presentation. The Consumer Advocates of San Diego awarded Michael with the “Outstanding Trial Lawyer” award for his work on a case where he received a verdict of 2.7 million for a car accident victim who was offered $150,000.00 from the insurance company. Michael was selected to be a “Super Lawyer,” a title in which only the top 2.5% of attorneys hold. Michael continues his life work through his relentless advocacy fighting for underrepresented communities that have been injured in an accident or taken advantage of by large corporations.
