Subject: Michael J. Miceli
Firm: Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd. (fumolaw.com)
Title: Senior Associate
Location: 601 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: (702) 382-9221
Dossier Date: March 29, 2026
Researcher Note: WebFetch was blocked for most profile pages (Avvo, Ballotpedia, Martindale, Justia, U.S. News, VoteSmartNV, Review-Journal articles, NV Supreme Court case system). Findings below are based on WebSearch result summaries and publicly indexed data. Items marked “Needs direct verification” should be confirmed via direct site access or PACER/bar database queries.
| Field | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Full Name | Michael J. Miceli | Verified — consistent across 10+ directory listings |
| Firm | Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd. | Verified — firm website, Avvo, Justia, Martindale, lawyers.com |
| Title | Senior Associate | Likely accurate — firm website claim; directories list him as associate of the firm |
| Office Address | 601 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89101 | Verified — consistent across directories and Yelp |
| Phone | (702) 382-9221 | Verified — multiple directory sources |
| Personal Background | Moved from New Jersey to Las Vegas in 1984; graduate of Valley High School | Likely accurate — firm bio and Ballotpedia candidate profile |
| Field | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| State Bar of Nevada | Bar No. 10151 | Likely accurate — referenced in search result summaries from directory aggregators; direct NVBar.org lookup was not indexable by search engines |
| Year Admitted | 2006 | Verified — consistent across Avvo, Justia, lawyers.com, firm bio, Ballotpedia |
| Nevada Courts | Licensed in all Nevada state courts | Verified — firm website; corroborated by directory listings |
| Federal Court | U.S. District Court, District of Nevada | Verified — firm bio; corroborated by his Federal Public Defender clerkship and appellate brief-writing experience |
| Disciplinary History | No public disciplinary actions found | Verified — Avvo states “no instances of professional misconduct found”; no results from targeted disciplinary search; NVBar discipline page returned no hits |
Note: Direct confirmation of bar number and active status should be obtained from the State Bar of Nevada’s “Find a Lawyer” tool at nvbar.org or by calling (702) 382-2200.
| Credential | Institution | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| J.D. | UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law | Year of graduation not publicly stated (admitted to bar 2006, so likely 2005 or 2006 J.D.) | Verified — firm bio, Avvo, Justia, Ballotpedia, lawyers.com |
| B.A., Criminal Justice | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) | Honors College; Cum Laude; Minor in Political Science | Verified — firm bio, Avvo, Justia, Ballotpedia |
| High School | Valley High School, Las Vegas | — | Likely accurate — firm bio; repeated in Ballotpedia candidate profile |
| Position | Entity | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Judicial Extern | Justice Michael Cherry, Nevada Supreme Court | During law school; Cherry later served on Nevada Supreme Court | Verified — firm bio; corroborated across Avvo, Justia, lawyers.com, and judicial campaign materials |
| Law Clerk | Federal Public Defender’s Office, District of Nevada | During law school | Verified — firm bio; corroborated across multiple directory profiles |
| Period | Role | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| 2006 — present | Senior Associate, Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd. | Hand-selected by Thomas F. Pitaro after studying Trial Advocacy under Pitaro at Boyd School of Law | Verified — firm bio; corroborated by Vegas Legal Magazine profile of Tom Pitaro and multiple directories |
| ~20 years at firm | Continuous tenure | Joined immediately upon bar admission in 2006; no evidence of any intervening employment | Likely accurate — no other firm affiliations found in any directory |
Mentorship Detail: Thomas F. Pitaro is a nationally recognized criminal defense attorney who has practiced in Las Vegas since 1974 and served as Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at Boyd School of Law. Miceli studied under Pitaro and was recruited directly into the firm. This mentor-protege relationship is referenced in the firm’s marketing and in the Vegas Legal Magazine feature on Pitaro.
| Area | Confidence |
|---|
| Criminal Defense — General Practice | Verified — firm site, Avvo, Justia, U.S. News, lawyers.com |
| Criminal Defense — White Collar | Verified — Avvo profile listing |
| Federal Criminal Defense | Verified — firm site mentions federal crimes practice; Miceli’s appellate brief experience in federal courts corroborates |
| Labor and Employment Law | Likely accurate — Ballotpedia and judicial campaign materials state he has “represented almost every single union in Las Vegas”; lawyer.com lists Employment as a practice area |
| Appellate Practice | Verified — firm bio states “extensive experience writing briefs in the Federal District Court of Nevada and in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals”; has “filed appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court” |
| DUI / Traffic | Likely accurate — judicial campaign materials reference handling “traffic tickets to murders” |
| Item | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Jury Trials | ”Numerous jury trials to verdict” | Likely accurate — firm bio claim; corroborated by his 2020 judicial campaign statement citing “13 years of trial experience” |
| Nevada Supreme Court Appeals | Has filed appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court | Likely accurate — firm bio; one NV Supreme Court case (Case No. 74968-COA / 74968, csIID=54309) appeared in search results linked to his name, but case details could not be fetched |
| 9th Circuit Appellate Briefs | Extensive brief-writing experience in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals | Likely accurate — firm bio claim; consistent with Federal Public Defender clerkship background |
| Las Vegas Fire Captain DV Case | A Las Vegas Review-Journal article about a fire captain’s domestic violence conviction denial of new trial references the firm; Miceli’s specific role is unclear from search summaries | Not publicly verified — article could not be fetched; needs direct confirmation |
| Specific Case Names/Numbers | No specific case names or docket numbers independently confirmed | Needs direct verification — PACER access and NV Supreme Court case search required |
Research Gap: Federal court filings (PACER) require authenticated access and could not be searched. The Nevada Supreme Court case information system returned one case link but content was inaccessible. A PACER search and direct NV appellate court query are recommended to build a verified case list.
| Recognition | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Best Lawyers | Recognized by Best Lawyers since 2021 (per U.S. News Lawyer Directory and Avvo) | Verified — referenced in U.S. News lawyer profile and Avvo; specific practice area listed as Criminal Defense |
| Martindale-Hubbell | Profile exists on Martindale.com; firm has received highest Martindale-Hubbell rating | Likely accurate — Martindale profile confirmed in search results; firm-level “highest rating” claim from lawyers.com |
| Avvo | Active profile; no misconduct found; colleague endorsement on file | Verified — Avvo profile URL confirmed and indexed |
| Super Lawyers | No Super Lawyers profile found for Michael Miceli specifically | Not found — Super Lawyers search returned results for the firm (Pitaro & Fumo) and for Thomas Pitaro, but not for Miceli individually |
| Client Champion (Firm-Level) | Pitaro & Fumo received Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion awards in 2021 and 2025 | Likely accurate — attributed to firm and to Osvaldo Fumo individually; Miceli not individually named |
| Source | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Avvo Colleague Endorsement | Described as “an exceptional attorney” whose “experience and analytical skills make him a fantastic litigator and his listening skills and calm demeanor make him a great listener and advocate”; called “a fantastic mentor and friend” | Verified — from Avvo profile search summary |
| Firm Google/Yelp Reviews | Pitaro & Fumo has 4.7 stars (27 reviews on Birdeye); 20 photos and 11 reviews on Yelp | Verified — firm-level reviews; individual attribution to Miceli not confirmed |
| Martindale-Hubbell Client Reviews | Firm received Client Champion award based on quantity and quality of client reviews | Likely accurate — award criteria described in Martindale search results |
| Source | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Las Vegas Review-Journal | Participated in 8th Judicial District Court Dept. 3 judicial debate (2020) alongside Adam Ganz and Monica Trujillo | Verified — LVRJ article URL confirmed in multiple searches |
| Las Vegas Review-Journal | Possible mention in fire captain DV case coverage and double-murder sentence computation article | Not publicly verified — articles could not be fetched; Miceli’s role in these cases is unconfirmed |
| The Nevada Independent | 2020 judicial election profile page exists | Verified — URL confirmed: thenevadaindependent.com/election/2020/judicial/nv-8/dept-3/michael-miceli |
| VoteSmartNV | Judicial candidate profile exists | Verified — URL confirmed: votesmartnv.org/judicial-candidate/michael-miceli-2/ |
| Vegas Legal Magazine | Mentioned in context of Tom Pitaro profile (“Vegas Icon: Tom Pitaro, Esq.”) as protege | Likely accurate — search result summary references Pitaro’s mentorship of younger colleagues |
| 8 News Now (KLAS) | No direct mentions found for Miceli | Not found |
| Field | Detail | Confidence |
|---|
| Race | Nevada 8th Judicial District Court, Department 3 | Verified — Ballotpedia, LVRJ, Nevada Independent, VoteSmartNV |
| Year | 2020 | Verified — primary held June 9, 2020 |
| Seat | Vacated by Judge Douglas Herndon (who ran for Nevada Supreme Court) | Likely accurate — from search result summaries |
| Outcome | Lost in primary; did not advance to general election | Verified — Ballotpedia confirms Adam Ganz and Monica Trujillo advanced; Monica Trujillo won general election Nov. 3, 2020 |
| Campaign Platform | Cited 35 years living in Las Vegas and 13 years of trial experience; ran on criminal defense and sentencing reform themes | Likely accurate — from LVRJ debate coverage and VoteSmartNV |
| Campaign Facebook Page | facebook.com/mikemiceli4judge | Verified — URL appeared in multiple search results |
Significance: Judicial candidacy demonstrates civic engagement and peer confidence. Losing in a contested three-way primary is not a negative indicator; competitive judicial races in Clark County routinely feature experienced attorneys.
| Directory | Profile Exists | URL |
|---|
| Fumo Law (Firm) | Yes | fumolaw.com/michael-j-miceli/ |
| Avvo | Yes | avvo.com/attorneys/89101-nv-michael-miceli-4277466.html |
| Justia | Yes | lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/michael-j-miceli-755730 |
| Lawyers.com (Martindale Network) | Yes | lawyers.com/las-vegas/nevada/michael-j-miceli-4954468-a/ |
| Martindale-Hubbell | Yes | martindale.com/attorney/michael-j-miceli-4954468/ |
| U.S. News — Best Lawyers | Yes | lawyers.usnews.com/lawyers/michael-miceli/90253399 |
| Lawyer.com | Yes | lawyer.com/michael-miceli.html |
| MoreLaw | Yes | morelaw.com/lawyers/atty.asp?f=Michael&i=119562&l=Miceli |
| USAttorneys.com | Yes | usattorneys.com/lawyer/michael-miceli/ |
| Ballotpedia | Yes | ballotpedia.org/Michael_Miceli |
| FindLaw | Not found for Miceli individually | Thomas Pitaro has a FindLaw profile but Miceli does not appear to have one |
| Super Lawyers | Not found | No individual profile |
- Licensed Nevada attorney since 2006, in good standing with no public discipline
- J.D. from UNLV Boyd School of Law; B.A. Criminal Justice (Cum Laude, Honors College) from UNLV with Political Science minor
- Extern for Justice Michael Cherry (Nevada Supreme Court)
- Law clerk at Federal Public Defender’s Office, District of Nevada
- Senior Associate at Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd. since 2006
- Recruited directly by Thomas F. Pitaro after studying Trial Advocacy under Pitaro at Boyd
- Admitted to practice in all Nevada courts and U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
- Practice areas: criminal defense (general and white collar), federal crimes, appellate work, labor/employment
- Recognized by Best Lawyers since 2021
- Ran for 8th Judicial District Court Dept. 3 in 2020; lost in primary
- Profiles on Avvo, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell, lawyers.com, U.S. News, and other directories
| Item | Recommended Action |
|---|
| Bar Number 10151 | Confirm via nvbar.org “Find a Lawyer” tool or call (702) 382-2200 |
| Active bar status (current year) | Confirm via State Bar of Nevada |
| Specific federal court case docket numbers | Run PACER search for “Miceli” as counsel in District of Nevada |
| Nevada Supreme Court case list | Search caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us by attorney name |
| 9th Circuit appellate brief filings | Search PACER 9th Circuit by counsel name |
| Best Lawyers — specific years and categories | Check bestlawyers.com directly or request from client |
| Role in LVRJ-covered cases (fire captain DV; double-murder sentence) | Fetch Review-Journal articles directly or request case details from client |
| Super Lawyers status | Confirm non-listing or check for recent additions at superlawyers.com |
| Avvo rating score | Fetch Avvo profile directly (blocked during this research) |
| Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating | Fetch Martindale profile directly (blocked during this research) |
| Specific trial verdict outcomes | Request from client; trial outcomes are not reliably indexed publicly |
| Union clients represented | Request from client; specific union names not publicly available |
- Exact J.D. graduation year (likely 2005 or 2006)
- Complete list of notable case outcomes and verdicts
- Specific unions represented in labor law practice
- Any additional awards, publications, or speaking engagements not surfaced in public search
- Whether Best Lawyers recognition has continued beyond initial 2021 listing
Dossier compiled via public web research on March 29, 2026. WebFetch access was restricted for most third-party profile pages; findings are based on WebSearch result summaries and indexed metadata. Direct profile verification and PACER/court database searches are recommended to complete open items.