Lawyer Monthly Rich List – Thomas Mesereau

Worth: $25 million

Firm: Mesereau Law Group

Bio: Best known as Michael Jackson’s Lawyer during his trial for child molestation, Thomas Meserau graduated from Harvard University cum laude and followed that up by earning a Masters of Science Degree from the London School of Economics and his law degree from The University of California’s Hastings College of Law.   Following his education, Meserau took a while to settle on his career path, but once he chose criminal defence, he has gone on to become one of America’s top criminal trial lawyers.

Meserau’s was little known outside of the Los Angeles legal network until actor Robert Blake selected him as his representation on a murder charge in 2003.  Although Meserau would eventually leave the case for unknown reasons, his star had begun to ascend and he quickly rose through the ranks and to prominence successfully defending several high-profile and celebrity clients in seemingly unwinnable cases including Mike Tyson among others.

Although he has enjoyed almost unparalleled success in trials, he recently found himself at the wrong end of a guilty verdict when he was unsuccessful in his attempt to defend Bill Cosby in his sexual harassment trial earlier this year, a verdict Meserau claimed was a “travesty of justice.”

Mesereau does not only represent celebrities, as an advocate for pro bono volunteer legal services he frequently works in that area and currently runs a law clinic in Los Angeles where he accepts one capital murder case each year on behalf of a defendant in the Deep South who cannot afford representation.  This role has resulted in him traveling to Alabama frequently for the last few decades to represent defendants in death-penalty cases.  Something he reportedly does with the same determination as his paid work.

His skills have resulted in a host of accolades including being named “Trial Lawyer of the year for 2015” by the National Trial Lawyers and was listed in the “One Hundred Most Influential Attorneys in California” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.  His analytical and studious nature in comparison to many of his counterparts has led some to claim he is “the best cross-examiner” they’ve ever seen.  Thanks to his Pro Bono work he has also received several humanitarian and community service awards.