Mildred K. O'Linn is an Equity Partner in the Los Angeles office of Manning Kass. She is a Co-Leader of the Governmental Entity Liability team. Ms. O'Linn has an unparalleled background as an attorney and technical expert in peace officer civil liability, use of force, training and tactics and the defense of governmental entities. Ms. O'Linn was a police officer for eight years at the Kent State University Police Department. Subsequently, she served as the Legal and Technical Advisor for the Law Enforcement Television Network, Inc. (LETN).

In her almost 40 year legal career, Ms. O'Linn has been repeatedly recognized for her skills as litigator. In 2009 Ms. O'Linn was accepted as a member of the distinguished American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), an award only bestowed upon proven trial attorneys. In 2011 she was inducted into the Litigation Counsel of America as a Senior Fellow, an invitation-only trial lawyer honorary society representing less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. In 2020, Ms. O'Linn was a featured speaker in the LA-ABOTA Masters in Trial Program, "Put Your Pants on and Pick a Jury" series in the Civil Rights - Police Misconduct presentation.   

Since coming to California in 1991, she has served the law enforcement community on a variety of committees and provided training to tens of thousands of peace officers. In 1992 Ms. O'Linn served as a member of both the California POST Use of Force Committee and as a member of the California Peace Officers' Association committee to develop a model use of force policy. Between 1992 and 1995, Ms. O’Linn was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department's Use of Force Training Review Committee and served on the Los Angeles Police Department's Civilian Martial Arts Advisory Panel in development of the LAPD's ARCON arrest and control curriculum. She has served on numerous additional California POST committees including: Ethical Decision-Making; Officer Involved Shootings; Dog Encounters: Keeping Officers Safe Committee; Learning Domain 20: Use of Force; Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted; the Mental Health Course Development Workshop; the De-escalation Curriculum Development Workshop; and Crowd Management, Intervention, and Control Guidelines. The training concepts she has developed are considered revolutionary and include the Constitutional Law Crate, the Use of Force Equation, the CRISIS Communications Crate and the 835a Cross Words. Missy also serves on the PoliceOne Editorial Advisory Board and has published numerous articles on law enforcement related topics.   

Ms. O'Linn annually works with agencies nationwide on policy and training issues. In 2012, Ms. O'Linn was retained to assist the City of Spokane Washington Use of Force Commission in reviewing the agencies use of force policies and training and their FTO program and then in 2015 served as a consultant in the City's response to the collaborative reform issues with the federal DOJ. More recently she has served on the Los Angeles County Chiefs of Police Public Outreach Committee; the Legal Affairs Committee and the Professional Development Committee for the Major County Sheriffs of America; and IACP Policy Center: ECWs Working Group.

Ms. O'Linn has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for excellence in representation and for her contributions to the defense of the law enforcement community from various agencies. In 2005 she was named the Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs Association's recipient of the Award for Civilian Leadership. In December, 2006 Ms. O'Linn received a Meritorious Service Award from the City of Gretna, Louisiana Police Department for her assistance to law enforcement in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. More recently, the State of California awarded her the California POST Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement Training and she was inducted into Safariland Training Group's "Monadnock Hall of Fame" for her dedicated service to educating those who are tasked to protect others.