Biography

The Hon. Michael I. Levanas is a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in February of 2005. He filled the vacancy created by the retirement of Margaret Hay.

He is a registered Democrat.

Judge Levanas received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, San Diego. He went on to earn his J.D. from Rutgers Law School in New Jersey.

Levanas served as a public defender for five years with the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office and almost two years as a panel lawyer for the Dependency Court before entering into private practice, where he spent most of his legal career. During that time, Levanas practiced for the law firm Overland, Berke, Wesley, Gits, Randolph, and Levanas. He remained with the firm until he was elected a court commissioner for the Los Angeles Superior Court in May of 2002. He served as a court commissioner until his appointment to the Superior Court in 2005.

During his time on the Superior Court, Judge Levanas was named a supervising judge for the Probate Court in 2013 and a presiding judge for the Juvenile Court in 2015, which is one of the largest in the nation.

Judge Levanas is one of the founders of the National Adoption Day and has presided over hundreds of adoptions.