About Raoul J.
Raoul J. Severo began his legal path at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a B.A. in 1970. He went on to receive his J.D. from Whittier Law School in 1977. Those academic years set the stage for a long career in criminal law and courtroom practice.
Soon after law school, he established his own practice. In 1977 he opened what became the Law Offices of Raoul J. Severo, P.C., serving as founder and managing lawyer. He built the firm around trial work and representation in criminal matters. Over the years the office handled cases at multiple levels of the judiciary.
Severo is licensed to appear in a wide range of courts. His credentials include admission in California and to the Supreme Court of California. He is also admitted to practice in several U.S. District Courts — Southern, Eastern, Northern and Central Districts of California — and the District of Arizona. Federal appeals work is part of his résumé as well, with admission to the Ninth Circuit. He has practiced in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, among other trial venues.
His bar and association memberships track decades of professional involvement. He was a member of the American Bar Association in the 1980s and early 1990s. He joined the Hispanic National Bar Association in the late 1990s and was active there into the early 2000s. In the 2010s he belonged to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and he held membership in the DUI Defense Lawyers Association around 2017 and 2018. These affiliations reflect consistent engagement with criminal defense communities and continuing education.
Severo’s day-to-day work has centered on defending clients charged with criminal offenses, including DUI-related matters. He has handled matters in both state and federal forums, taking cases through arraignment, pretrial proceedings and trial when necessary. His practice emphasizes litigation and courtroom advocacy rather than transactional or corporate work.
After nearly five decades practicing law, he continues to lead his firm and represent clients in criminal and DUI cases. As of 2026 he remains active in court and maintains a practice focused on criminal defense in state and federal courts.
