Houghtaling, John William

An honors graduate of UC-Berkeley and Harvard Law School, Neil Shouse served five years as Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County. He prosecuted more than 60 criminal trials, and handled more than 1,000 evidentiary hearings. He earned a reputation as one of the toughest and most successful trial prosecutors, with an astounding 96% success rate in felony criminal jury trials to verdict.

Today Mr. Shouse is licensed to practice law in California and Nevada, and he practices in Los Angeles County and Las Vegas NV.

As a trial prosecutor, Mr. Shouse's cases ranged from DUIs and drug charges to complex, high profile murders. He worked in close partnership with police, detectives, the California Highway Patrol, criminalists and fellow prosecutors.

Among his cases was the successful prosecution of Shadae Schmidt, a college student who shot and killed her mother and then staged a fake robbery scene. Shadae Schmidt was defended at the trial by Michael Jackson lawyer Thomas Mesereau.

Mr. Shouse frequently speaks as a guest legal commentator on national television. He has appeared on the Dr Phil Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Court TV, Fox News Channel, TV Guide Channel and Public Television. As well, Mr. Shouse has been featured on radio programs and quoted in national newspapers throughout the country.

Prior to serving as a trial prosecutor, Mr. Shouse was a litigator for several of the nation's top law firms, including the global law firm Sidley Austin LLP. In that role, he represented such clients as AT&T, Microsoft, Metropolitan Life, Western Union and KPMG.