Mike Gatto

Mike Gatto has long felt a calling to improve how society works for its citizens, a commitment that led him to public office in the California State Assembly, where he won eight elections to serve four terms. Gatto brings that same calling to his work as an attorney, focusing on obtaining efficient, excellent results for clients.

During his tenure in the Legislature, Gatto served on the Banking and Finance Committee, presided over Assembly sessions as assistant speaker, and chaired the Appropriations Committee, the Consumer Protection and Privacy Committee, and the Utilities and Commerce Committee. As chair of the Appropriations Committee, he determined billions in spending each year. As chair of the Consumer Protection and Privacy Committee, he worked on several innovative initiatives involving technology and cybersecurity. As chair of the Utilities and Commerce Committee, he guided landmark utility and energy policy and regulatory reforms. Along the way, he developed substantial expertise in each of those subject areas.

Gatto authored several landmark pieces of legislation during his tenure, with a total of 55 measures he authored becoming law. He authored the first Rainy Day Fund, a savings account for the state designed to require deposits when times are good so the state need not scramble when times are not as good. He authored landmark production tax incentives to keep entertainment jobs in Southern California after a generation of lawmakers had tried and failed. He authored the only substantive Proposition 65 reform, which saved businesses from junk lawsuits. He brought $700 million to Southern California to clean up polluted groundwater. He authored a bill to allow families to avoid probate and attorneys’ fees, a bill the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association called one of the most important bills since Proposition 13. And, on a lighter note, he authored the bill that brought back the classic black license plates.

Before his election to the Assembly, Gatto practiced law at Los Angeles’s oldest and most distinguished firm, served as a congressional chief of staff, and worked in the administrations of three Los Angeles mayors. He has achieved successful outcomes in a number of high-stakes cases before the California Court of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gatto advises Fortune 500 companies and small businesses on navigating the halls of power and is a sought-after advisor to investors and analysts on the political and regulatory climate, forecasting trends that affect publicly traded companies and private investors. He is a regular fixture in the media as a commentator on national news networks. His affiliations include the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus; the Board of Investments for the LACERA pension fund; board membership with the A-Mark Foundation; service on the Board of Directors of Royaland Co. Ltd., RLNDF; membership in the California Legislature’s Problem Solvers’ Caucus; service on the advisory board of the Alliance for American Leadership; a speaker’s appointment to the California Delta Council from 2017 to 2021; adjunct professorship at the USC Unruh Institute, 2017 to 2018; senior fellowship at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 2018 to 2019; and service as a captain in the California Guard.