The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) honored California attorney C.D. "Chuck" Michel with the 2013 NRA Defender of Justice Award. This award recognizes outstanding efforts by attorneys who defend the right to keep and bear arms, and particularly recognizes attorneys who make a significant contribution to those efforts pro bono. Chuck received the prestigious award at the NRA's 2013 annual meetings in Houston, Texas. It recognizes him for his extensive work, and particularly pro bono work, defending the right to keep and bear arms.
"For years, Chuck Michel has played a critical role in defending the rights of California gun owners and hunters," said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA-ILA. "Whether it’s bringing major Second Amendment litigation in federal court, defending individual gun owners caught up in California’s maze of laws and regulations, or preserving hunters’ rights against animal extremists, Californians owe a debt of gratitude for his efforts."
Chuck is the Senior Counsel at Michel & Associates. His practice focuses on civil litigation, including firearms law, business litigation, labor and employment law disputes, civil rights advocacy, land use and environmental law. He has over twenty years of experience representing the NRA and California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA), as well as firearm manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and gun owners.
Over the last twenty years, Chuck has generously contributed thousands of hours of his time and the time of the team of civil rights lawyers employed at his law firm, worth millions of dollars, to Second Amendment causes and on behalf of gun owners.
Chuck is also the author of California Gun Laws: A Guide to State and Federal Firearm Regulations, and is a frequent lecturer to community groups and organizations on Second Amendment issues. He has represented many clients in high-profile cases that garnered significant state and national media attention. He has appeared as a spokesperson for the NRA, CRPA and other associations, and for individual clients on dozens of television and radio interviews and in thousands of newspaper articles. He has been profiled in recognition of his work in multiple periodicals, and has published several articles and editorials in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily Journal and several other state and national newspapers. Chuck has also taught law as an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, where he teaches classes in Firearms Law and Law Practice Management.
The NRA is proud to have Michel & Associates working on behalf of our right to keep and bear arms.
Some law firms, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco, support anti-gun-owner efforts to undermine your right to keep and bear arms by providing pro bono legal services to the gun ban lobby and to politicians who would deprive you of our Second Amendment rights. The anti-Second Amendment efforts by these law firms are effectively subsidized through the legal fees paid by their business clients. Shop for your legal service provider carefully so you don’t inadvertently subsidize the gun ban lobby!
Past Defender of Justice Award recipients:
2007 - Mike Minton (St. Louis)
2008 - Kenn Hanson (Louisville)
2009 - Dave Kopel (Phoenix)
2010 - Lonnie Anderson (Charlotte)
2011 - Jonathan Goldstein (Pittsburgh)
2012 - (Not Presented) (St. Louis)
2013 - Chuck Michel (Houston)
