Denisse O. Gastélum; Founder/Trial Lawyer, Gastélum Law, APC
Denisse is a civil rights attorney, who specializes in police shootings and in-custody death cases, representing plaintiffs in state and federal courts throughout the State of California. She previously worked as a public entity defense attorney; this experience provides her with the unique ability to analyze a civil rights case from both a defense and plaintiff’s perspective. She is considered an expert in in-custody death civil rights cases. In 2024, Denisse was the lead attorney behind the historic jail death settlement in the Trejo v. County of Imperial. In 2022, Denisse was a recipient of the CAOC Street Fighter of the Year Award for her role on the litigation team behind the Alarcio v. County of Los Angeles federal civil rights action, which resulted in the largest jail-death related settlement against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Denisse is a proud Past President of MABA, LLBA and CLRLA, and sits on the Board of Directors for CAALA, CAOC, NPAP, ACLU SoCal and LACBA.