General Counsel
Dieter Dammeier

Email

Dieter Dammeier is one of the founding partners of Lackie, Dammeier & McGill APC and now Managing Partner of Lackie, Dammeier & McGill APC. Dieter began his law enforcement career in 1989 as a police officer for the City of Cypress. He left Cypress in 1991 to work for the Claremont Police Department. While at Claremont he served on the POA Board of Directors and became heavily involved in negotiations and officer representation. Working full-time at Claremont, Dieter went part-time to college and then law school. He graduated in 1996 from Western State University of Law in the top 5% of his class. After becoming a fulltime attorney Dieter continued to maintain his knowledge of police work while working as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department.

While in law school Dieter completed an externship working at the Law Offices of Castle & Krause, a police labor firm representing San Diego area police unions. In 1997 Dieter joined Michael Lackie and formed Lackie, Dammeier & McGill APC. He has practiced in all levels of state and federal courts in California from representing a POA President in a retaliation case before a federal jury to arguing public safety labor issues before the California Supreme Court.

In the past decade, Dieter has more published Appellate Court decisions in the field of public safety labor law than most if not all of the other attorneys in the State who practice in this field. He is co-author to the most widely used resource on POBR; The Pocket Guide to the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.

In recent years, Dieter has become the firm's primary negotiator. He has since negotiated over 100 public safety contracts obtaining record salary and benefit increases benefiting not only our clients but pushing the public safety market further up, benefiting all public safety throughout the State.

As a PORAC Panel Attorney, Dieter is also active in politics in the area of police labor issues, traveling to Sacramento and Washington D.C. to lobby legislators to improve police officer rights and assist in drafting proposed legislation to address these issues. Dieter drafted SB 1516, which imposes a monetary penalty against police management for violating an officer's rights under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act. Dieter has testified before the State Senate on police labor legislation and was a panel advisor to the Speakers Committee on Police Conduct.

dieter@policeattorney.com

General Counsel
Michael McGill

Email

Michael began his legal career volunteering at both the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office as well as the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. There, he researched, prepared, and argued motions, as well as handled preliminary hearings. Michael later joined Lackie, Dammeier & McGill in 2004 and currently represents peace officers in all civil litigation matters ranging from violations of the Public Safety Officer Procedural Bill of Rights Act and the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He has been successful in obtaining significant benefits for peace officers and Associations through litigation and trial. His work has resulted in several published decisions, including Florio v. City of Ontario, 130 Cal.App.4th 1462 (2005) (ruling that arbitration cost-sharing provisions are unconstitutional) and Rialto Police Benefit Association v. City of Rialto, __ Cal.Rptr.3d __, 2007 WL 2852202 (2007) (employer must meet and confer with union over decision to contract out with county for services). Michael's success has strengthened the rights of all public employees throughout the state.

Michael's practice also involves obtaining writs of mandamus against public entities for violations of state law as well as disciplinary appeal cases. Michael is experienced in all areas of the law involving peace officers, but has had remarkable success in retaliation, whistleblower, and discrimination lawsuits. His success in these areas has resulted in significant monetary awards to his clients either through settlement or trial. Michael's most recent accomplishments netted his client a 1.4 million dollar jury verdict for unlawful retaliation as well as a 1.5 million dollar settlement for civil rights violations. His time is divided equally in state and federal court, and is dedicated to protecting the rights of peace officers under state and federal law, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act, California Labor Code, California Government Code, Fair Labor Standards Act, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act.

Michael graduated from California Lutheran University in 1999 with a B.S. in Sports Medicine and Athletic Training while earning the prestigious Everret Thoreson Scholarship given to the University's top student trainer. He later graduated in 2003 from the University of La Verne College of Law. Michael graduated cum laude, and at the top of his class, and received American Jurisprudence Awards in Civil Procedure, Property, Contracts, Evidence, Business Organizations, and Remedies. Michael received the University of La Verne's Merit Scholarship and was both a Staff Writer and Staff Editor for the College of Law's Journal of Juvenile Law. His participation in moot court competition earned him an award as a runner-up Best Oralist.

Michael was admitted to the California Bar in 2004, and is also a member of the U.S. District Courts for both the Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California. Much of his practice involves appellate work in both the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit.

Michael was born in Oxnard, California, the third of four children. Prior to commencing his legal education, Michael's first love was basketball, at which he earned significant intercollegiate awards while completing his undergraduate degree. Michael makes his home in Orange County with his wife.

You may contact Michael at mcgill@policeattorney.com