Full Name
Mr. Kyle D. Hawkins
Job Title
Partner
Court or Organization
Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP
Speaker Bio
A former Texas Solicitor General and U.S. Supreme Court clerk, Kyle Hawkins is a veteran commercial litigator and appellate advocate. He is ranked by Chambers, The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and other publications as among the most accomplished and trusted litigators in Texas. Clients routinely call on him to handle their most important disputes, whether it means winning in trial court, or preserving the win—or reversing a loss—on appeal.
As the Chair of the firm’s Texas Appellate Practice, Kyle appears frequently in federal and state appellate courts. He has argued four cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, seven in the Texas Supreme Court, and dozens of others in federal and state intermediate appellate courts, including nearly 20 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Kyle is the only advocate in the nation to argue five cases before the Fifth Circuit sitting en banc—and he prevailed in all five.
Kyle maintains a robust practice in trial courts, where he handles major commercial disputes. He represents clients on everything from pre-complaint counseling through discovery, summary judgment, trial, and post-trial proceedings. In addition, clients often retain Kyle to partner with other trial lawyers as embedded appellate counsel, preparing jury instructions, crafting and arguing critical motions, advising on trial strategy, and preserving issues for appellate review.
Kyle is frequently invited to speak at CLEs and other events. He has delivered several dozen speeches in recent years, to groups ranging from the Federalist Society to the Texas Bar CLE program, and covering topics ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisprudence to civil rights to administrative law. Kyle also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School, where he teaches seminars on constitutional law and oral advocacy.
From 2018 to 2021, Kyle served as the Texas Solicitor General, the state’s chief appellate litigator and one of the Texas Attorney General’s senior advisers. In that role, he regularly represented Texas executive officials and agencies, and he draws on that experience to assist clients with sensitive matters ranging from investigations to litigation against the state.
Before joining Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, Mr. Hawkins was a commercial litigation partner in the Dallas and Houston offices of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. He previously served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court, and to Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Kyle graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. He earned his law degree summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. He received his law school’s William B. Lockhart Award, typically awarded to the graduating student with the highest GPA through five semesters, and the Class of 2009 Outstanding Contribution Award.
As the Chair of the firm’s Texas Appellate Practice, Kyle appears frequently in federal and state appellate courts. He has argued four cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, seven in the Texas Supreme Court, and dozens of others in federal and state intermediate appellate courts, including nearly 20 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Kyle is the only advocate in the nation to argue five cases before the Fifth Circuit sitting en banc—and he prevailed in all five.
Kyle maintains a robust practice in trial courts, where he handles major commercial disputes. He represents clients on everything from pre-complaint counseling through discovery, summary judgment, trial, and post-trial proceedings. In addition, clients often retain Kyle to partner with other trial lawyers as embedded appellate counsel, preparing jury instructions, crafting and arguing critical motions, advising on trial strategy, and preserving issues for appellate review.
Kyle is frequently invited to speak at CLEs and other events. He has delivered several dozen speeches in recent years, to groups ranging from the Federalist Society to the Texas Bar CLE program, and covering topics ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisprudence to civil rights to administrative law. Kyle also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School, where he teaches seminars on constitutional law and oral advocacy.
From 2018 to 2021, Kyle served as the Texas Solicitor General, the state’s chief appellate litigator and one of the Texas Attorney General’s senior advisers. In that role, he regularly represented Texas executive officials and agencies, and he draws on that experience to assist clients with sensitive matters ranging from investigations to litigation against the state.
Before joining Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, Mr. Hawkins was a commercial litigation partner in the Dallas and Houston offices of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. He previously served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court, and to Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Kyle graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. He earned his law degree summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Law Review and was elected to Order of the Coif. He received his law school’s William B. Lockhart Award, typically awarded to the graduating student with the highest GPA through five semesters, and the Class of 2009 Outstanding Contribution Award.
Speaking At
