Michael S. Carrillo

Pasadena trial lawyer Michael S. Carrillo didn’t plan on following in his father’s footsteps. Growing up, he watched Luis Carrillo pour time and money into righteous, pro bono fights — even when the family struggled. The myth of guaranteed wealth in the law? He saw the opposite.But Michael found his way into the courtroom — and, eventually, into the work that now defines him: representing survivors of child sexual abuse and pursuing civil rights cases with a distinctly community-centered lens.What sets his practice apart, he explains, is deep cultural connection and language fluency born of a 45-year family legacy serving Latino clients in Los Angeles. Compassion isn’t a slogan; it’s the firm’s operating system. “I always tell every lawyer that comes to work in our office, lead with compassion,” he says. Carrillo recounts joining his father on the Miramonte Elementary School litigation, where a teacher’s horrific abuse of children galvanized both their practice and the community’s trust. That experience foreshadowed the years-long battle in Jane and John Does v. Mountain View School District (El Monte), a case that stretched more than seven years and wound through the trial court, the court of appeal, and the California Supreme Court. When the defense sought to introduce evidence of a survivor’s unrelated, later incident of abuse to muddy causation, Carrillo and team pushed back. Working with Senator Anna Caballero, advocates helped pass SB 1386 (Suzy’s Law), strengthening California’s civil rape shield protections.That perspective crystallizes in his “Closing Argument,” where he returns to a painful loss in an earlier LAUSD trial. After the defense verdict, he walked into his conference room to tell survivors the news. Braced for collapse, he heard something else: “You know what, Michael, that’s okay. Thank you for believing in me and fighting for me. You gave me my voice back.”Key TakeawaysLead with compassion first; strategy and results follow when clients feel seen and safe.Cultural and language fluency deepen trust with clients and jurors, especially in community-rooted cases.Appellate and legislative advocacy can be essential trial tools — sometimes the fight moves beyond the courtroom.Strengthened civil rape shield protections (SB 1386 / Suzy’s Law) prevent retraumatizing detours into unrelated incidents.Streamlined, coordinated trial presentations respect jurors’ time while amplifying each survivor’s distinct story.The Trial Lawyer's Journal is Presented by CloudLex and Lexvia.ai.TLJ InstagramTLJ YouTubeTLJ LinkedIn