Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer

Former Los Angeles Senior Deputy District Attorney
Now providing an aggressive defense for you.

Why hire Kraut Law Group when facing criminal charges or investigations?
Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers is led by Michael Kraut, a Harvard Law School educated, top-rated Los Angeles criminal defense attorney with over 30 years of legal and trial experience. Our firm defends private individuals, licensed professionals, corporate executives, and businesses that are under criminal investigation or facing charges throughout Los Angeles and Southern California. To arrange a free consultation, contact Kraut Law Group at (323) 464-6453.

A criminal charge or investigation in Los Angeles doesn't wait for you to catch up. Within the first 24 to 72 hours, evidence is collected, witnesses are interviewed, and prosecutors start building the story they intend to tell, all before you've had a genuine chance to answer it. Our criminal defense attorneys deliver an aggressive, strategic defense shaped by years of experience in both California and federal courts.

A Former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney on Your Side
Before founding the firm, Michael Kraut served more than 14 years as a senior prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, where he led investigative and prosecution teams. That experience on both sides of the courtroom shapes how the firm approaches every case, from anticipating how the prosecution will build its file to knowing where plea negotiations and trial strategy tend to turn. Mr. Kraut applies his experience as a prosecutor in pre-file interventions, frequently negotiating with prosecutors to have investigations closed or charges reduced before a case is formally filed.

While at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, Mr. Kraut tried more than 80 felony jury trials and with 99% success rate, including assignments in the Hardcore Gang Division and the Major Frauds Division. He received national attention for uncovering corrupt police officers connected to the LAPD Rampart scandal, and he has trained both police officers and prosecutors in criminal investigation techniques.

Recognition, Honors & Education
Michael Kraut has earned numerous professional honors and top peer ratings, including selection to Super Lawyers and perfect 10/10 ratings from both Avvo and Justia. He has been named a Top Attorney by EliteLawyer.com and placed among the Top One Percent of Criminal Defense Attorneys by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. His prosecutorial career brought additional recognition, including the Citizen's Award from the Black Prosecutors Association of Los Angeles (BPLA), the Outstanding Homicide Prosecutor award from Justice for Homicide Victims, and the ADDA Award from the Association of Deputy District Attorneys. He studied at Cornell University, Case Western School of Law, and Harvard Law School.

Media Coverage
Michael Kraut is regularly sought out for legal commentary and has shared his courtroom insight on Good Morning America, BBC News, KTLA, CNN, Fox News, and a range of other national and local media outlets.

Experience, Focus, and Dedication
Dedicated, experienced, and widely respected, Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers fights for clients throughout Los Angeles and Southern California, pairing trial-tested advocacy and investigative skill with a former prosecutor's perspective to protect their freedom, their careers, and their reputations. Call Michael Kraut and Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers today at (323) 464-6453 for a free consultation.

Free Consultation: (323) 464-6453 • 24 Hour Assistance

Criminal Cases Our Law Firm Handles

Kraut Law Group represents clients charged with DUI, domestic violence, drug offenses, white collar crime, fraud, theft, violent crime, and homicide, along with a wide range of other felonies and misdemeanors. The firm's work includes high-profile matters in both California state courts and federal courts. Executives and professionals often turn to Kraut Law Group early, bringing the firm in during the investigative stage in an effort to prevent charges from being filed at all.

Theft Crimes
Theft allegations put your freedom, career, and reputation at risk. Kraut Law Group defends charges ranging from petty theft (PC 484) and shoplifting to grand theft (PC 487), embezzlement (PC 503), burglary (PC 459), and robbery ( PC 211)— cases that often turn on disputed intent, mistaken identification, competing claims of ownership, or the value assigned to the property. Michael Kraut spent more than 14 years as a Los Angeles prosecutor and knows how a theft file is assembled and where it tends to be weak. The firm reviews each stage of the investigation, challenges unreliable or unlawfully obtained evidence, and looks for openings to intervene before a case gains momentum. Depending on what the evidence supports, that can mean keeping charges from being filed, seeking a dismissal, negotiating a reduction, or taking the case to trial.

White Collar Crimes
A white-collar investigation can threaten professional licenses, businesses, personal assets, and reputations long before any charges are filed. Kraut Law Group handles complex state and federal matters involving embezzlement, extortion, insurance and healthcare fraud, financial misconduct, and other business-related offenses. Michael Kraut served in the Major Frauds Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, where sophisticated financial cases are built — experience that matters most at the investigative stage, while the scope of a case is still being decided. The firm analyzes financial records and government evidence, engages with investigators and prosecutors when doing so serves the client, and works to keep charges from being filed or to limit what is charged, with the client's liberty, assets, business, and reputation as the measure of the result.

Fraud Crimes
Criminal fraud requires proof of fraudulent intent, which means the circumstances surrounding a transaction can matter as much as the documents recording it. Kraut Law Group represents clients accused of insurance fraud (PC 550), identity theft (PC 530 and PC 530.5) and credit card fraud (PC 484e through PC 484J), forgery (PC 470), real estate fraud (PC 532 f), securities-related offenses, and other alleged deception — cases typically built from extensive financial records, electronic communications, and forensic accounting. Having prosecuted matters like these himself, Michael Kraut knows how the government assembles a narrative of intent from a paper trail, and how often that paper trail also supports an innocent explanation. The firm tests the prosecution's theory against the financial evidence, the witness accounts, and the proof of state of mind, looking for inconsistencies and alternatives the government has not accounted for. The aim is an early and favorable resolution, with every case prepared for trial should one become necessary.

Drug Crimes
In many drug cases, the decisive question is not what the police found but how they found it. Kraut Law Group defends cases ranging from simple possession (HS 11350) to felony allegations involving possession for sales (HS 11351), transportation (HS 11352), manufacturing, and trafficking, with exposure varying by the substance, quantity, alleged conduct, and the client's record. Michael Kraut's years as a Los Angeles prosecutor inform how the firm examines a narcotics investigation and the way the government attempts to prove possession, knowledge, and intent to sell. Searches, warrants, traffic stops, informant information, and surveillance are reviewed for constitutional and evidentiary defects that may support suppression of evidence or dismissal of charges. Where the circumstances call for it, the firm also pursues diversion, treatment, and charge reductions in place of incarceration.

Violent Crimes
Violent-crime allegations carry some of the most severe exposure in California law, including lengthy prison terms and, in qualifying cases, enhanced punishment under the Three Strikes law. Kraut Law Group defends charges of assault (PC 245), battery (PC 242, PC 243) robbery (PC 211), domestic violence (PC 273.5), manslaughter (PC 191), and murder (PC 187) — cases that usually come down to conflicting accounts, questions about who began a confrontation, claims of self-defense, eyewitness reliability, and forensic evidence, often against an emotionally charged backdrop. Michael Kraut prosecuted cases like these in Los Angeles and understands how the district attorney's office prepares them for trial. Rather than react to the government's version of events, the firm develops its own: interviewing witnesses, examining physical and digital evidence, retaining experts where they add something, and investigating available defenses from the first day of the case.

Sex Crimes
A sex-crime investigation can damage your reputation, career, and relationships before any charging decision is made, and a conviction can bring substantial prison exposure along with registration under California's tiered sex offender system. Kraut Law Group represents clients accused of sexual battery (243b), rape (PC 261), statutory offenses, child sexual abuse material offenses (PC 311.11), and related crimes. These cases tend to hinge on credibility, consent, digital evidence, prior communications between the parties, and the circumstances in which the accusation arose. As a former senior Los Angeles prosecutor, Michael Kraut can anticipate how investigators and prosecutors approach sensitive matters like this. Retained during the investigation, the firm can move immediately to preserve evidence, locate witnesses, examine the allegations, and present information to the prosecutor while the filing decision remains open.

Alcohol-Related Crimes
Alcohol-related charges are often treated as minor until the collateral consequences surface — fines and probation, alcohol education requirements, licensing problems, school discipline, and a criminal record that outlasts all of them. Kraut Law Group handles public intoxication (PC 647f), furnishing alcohol to minors, minor in possession, false identification, open container, and similar offenses. These cases frequently begin with a brief encounter with police, which raises the question of whether officers had lawful grounds to detain, search, question, or arrest in the first place. Drawing on his time as a Los Angeles prosecutor, Michael Kraut evaluates both the underlying evidence and the conduct of law enforcement. The firm identifies defenses early and pursues dismissal, diversion, or reduced charges to limit the long-term impact of the arrest.

Driving Crimes
Some driving offenses are prosecuted as crimes rather than handled as traffic matters, and they can carry jail or prison time, substantial fines, higher insurance costs, and suspension or revocation of a license. Kraut Law Group defends misdemeanor and felony DUI (VC 23152 a and b), hit-and-run (VC 20001 or VC 20002), reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, evading law enforcement (VC 2800.1), vehicular manslaughter (PC 191.5 or PC 192), and comparable charges. These cases can turn on the legality of the initial stop, the identification of the driver, accident reconstruction, video, witness accounts, or the prosecution’s ability to prove the required mental state. Michael Kraut applies his experience as a former Los Angeles prosecutor to press on the government's evidence and its investigative methods. Because a criminal case can generate separate DMV proceedings, the firm handles both together, so that a favorable outcome in one is not undone by the other.

Experience, Focus, and Dedication
Committed, seasoned, and highly regarded, Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers defends clients throughout Los Angeles and Southern California, combining courtroom-tested advocacy and investigative skills with the insight of a former prosecutor to safeguard their freedom, careers, and reputations. Contact Michael Kraut and Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers at (323) 464-6453 today to schedule a free consultation.