In 1928, he founded the firm of Tobriner, Lazarus, Brundage & Neyhart, in San Francisco and Los Angeles where he represented the American Federation of Labor and various unions for over 25 years, except for stints working at public agencies.

From 1932 to 1936, during the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tobriner served as chief attorney in the solicitor's office of the United States Department of Agriculture.

[10] In June 1962, Governor Brown elevated Tobriner to Associate Justice of the state Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of Maurice T. Dooling Jr., who had resigned.

[15] Tobriner's tenure on the state's high court is notable for several decisions he authored in the areas of constitutional law and civil rights, property, contracts and torts.

[16] His 1965 opinion in People v. Dorado, ruling that a person accused of a crime must be advised by the police of a right to remain silent and to obtain counsel, presaged the U.S. Supreme Court's Miranda v. Arizona (1966).

[17] In 1966, Tobriner explained in Morrison v. State Board of Education that gay teachers are entitled to employment in public schools absent a "showing that an individual's homosexuality renders him unfit for the job from which he has been excluded.

The California Supreme Court ordered the city controller to pay the salaries, with Tobriner's majority opinion finding that contracts secured through illegal strikes are still legally enforceable.

In other words, if a couple lives together for a substantial period of time, one of the parties may be required to make payments to the other upon the dissolution of the relationship—commonly called "palimony.

"[23] In 1978, as Acting Chief Justice, Tobriner wrote the decision in the products liability case Barker v. Lull Engineering Co., 20 Cal.3d 413 (Cal.

We preserve a greater value than an ancient tradition when we protect the rights of the Indians who honestly practiced an old religion in using peyote one night at a meeting in a desert hogan near Needles, California."

[28] In January 1982, Tobriner retired from the high court and his seat was filled by Governor Jerry Brown's appointment of Cruz Reynoso.

[39] Michael's son, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, is the 2007 World Aquatics Champion in 50-meter freestyle swimming and won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.