If anyone is to take the blame — or credit — for Michael Perez becoming a lawyer, it’s Perry Mason. “My grandparents didn’t speak English and the only English-speaking show they watched was ‘Perry Mason,’” says Perez, 39, a third-generation San Diegan. “Ever since, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I became a lawyer to help people.”

His parents encouraged their four children to get an education and three became lawyers. Today, Perez is a partner with Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps where he specializes in intellectual property rights and employment law. In his more than 40 civil and criminal jury trials as a litigator, he has never lost a case.

A Stanford and UCLA School of Law graduate, he served as the first general counsel/judicial attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City while working for the Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. As an assistant United States attorney in San Diego, he successfully won 30 prosecutions against drug traffickers.

“I admit I am driven,” says Perez, who also has written an unpublished novel and has a 4-year-old son. “That’s part of my work ethic. I’m not the smartest guy in the room, but I work as hard as it takes to be successful.”

Perez volunteers his time with the San Diego Commission on Human Relations, MANA (a group to empower Latinas), chairs the National Conference for Community and Justice, San Diego Region, chairs the UCSD Hispanic Scholarship Fund and is vice president of the Mexican Heritage Foundation.

“There’s a personal satisfaction for me in giving back,” he says. “I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if people hadn’t given me opportunities. That’s why it’s imperative for me to give back.”

— Patricia Morris Buckley