Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass hired attorney Mitch Kamin, who had fought with the Trump administration and provided legal services to underserved communities to become her next chief of staff.
Like the mayor, Kamin is a graduate of Alexander Hamilton High School, who will lead the third chief of staff in the city for nearly three years – faster than the previous administration.
Bass announced the appointment in a press release Friday, calling Cumming a “experienced leader and status quo.”
The Harvard-educated attorney has experienced as an executive at nonprofits and legal services and has served on several city committees.
Most recently, he was the general counsel and chief strategy officer of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts, a project by George Lucas, a Star Wars creator, which will open next year.
Prior to that, Kamin was a partner at law firm Covington & Burling LLP, where he helped the company recruit its first Los Angeles office and was co-chair of the Global Business Litigation Practice Group and the Entertainment and Media Industry Group. He was previously the president of BET Tzedek Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services.
“Mickey is a passionate, determined and compelling leader,” former Attorney General Eric Holder, a partner at Covington, said in a statement.
Kamin, 58, is in charge of Bass as the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigrants in Los Angeles and across the country. During Trump’s first term, he represented the city’s lawsuit against the Justice Department, which blocked the federal government’s request for cooperation with immigration enforcement as a condition for obtaining a grant.
Kamin replaced Carolyn Webb de Macias, who has led the mayor’s office since November 2023. She has retired and should have been in that position for only one year, but has stayed for longer after January’s wildfires.
The mayor’s first chief of staff was Chris Thompson, who led the transition team after his election.
Recently, the Chief of Staff of the mayor’s administration has generally served longer. Ana Guerrero led the mayor’s office for eight years under Mayor Eric Garcetti, while Robin Kramer served for about four years under Mayor Antonio Villaragosa.
Guerrero lost his position in 2021 after revealing that she demeaned elected officials, city employees and others from Facebook’s team. She maintains a decline role with the mayor.
Kamin was appointed by Garcetti as the committee overseeing the Los Angeles Homeless Services Bureau in 2016. Since 2011, he has also served as chairman of the Los Angeles Municipal Housing Administration Commission.
Kamin was on the board when the agency fired its CEO Rudolf Montiel. The board has been criticized for providing Montyre with $1.2 million in severance payments.
“The basic thing is to remove any legal liability… close this chapter and keep moving forward,” Cumming told the Times in 2011.
Kamin will start her new job on September 22, and Bass told her staff in a scoped email.
“Mickey has the full support and mission to lead this team and maximize our effectiveness and performance,” she wrote.
