Kiley Hyatt, Extended Biography

 


After graduating with Honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with degrees in Political Science and Philosophy, Ms. Hyatt attended the William S. Richardson School of Law in Honolulu, Hawaii.  After her first year of law school, Ms. Hyatt completed a Summer Internship at the Hampden County District Attorney's Office where she spent the Summer in the Courtroom litigating State Criminal Cases.  After Ms. Hyatt's second year of law school, Ms. Hyatt was one of only twenty law students selected worldwide to participate in The Judge Advocate General's Summer Internship Program and was placed in the Hawaii Trial Defense Service Field Office where she spent the Summer litigating countless Courts-Martials.  After having discovered her love of criminal law and desire to stay in the courtroom, Ms. Hyatt established an externship program with the William S. Richardson School of Law and the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate at Schofield Barracks where she spent her third year of law school working hand and hand with defense counsel litigating Courts-Martial cases. 

After graduating from the William S. Richardson School of Law in the top of her class, Ms. Hyatt joined the United States Judge Advocate General's Corps.  Due to Ms. Hyatt's experience in the field of criminal law, Ms. Hyatt was selected by the Chief of Trial Defense Service to serve as a Criminal Defense Counsel and was assigned at the Hawaii Field Office at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  Ms. Hyatt hit the ground running and was in the courtroom in front of a panel of enlisted members only two weeks after reporting, litigating a contested rape case in which a finding of not guilty was returned by the panel after three days of litigation and only seven minutes of deliberations. Ms. Hyatt became well known for her theory of trial work as "just litigate the damn case."  Due to her take no prisoners approach and her skills as an advocate in the courtroom, despite having only served one year as a defense counsel, the Regional Defense Counsel hand selected Ms. Hyatt to serve as one of a two member defense team to defend a double-felony homicide capital case.  Due to Ms. Hyatt's thorough pre-trial investigation and leveraging the skills of ballistic, blood spatter, crime scene reconstruction, finger print and DNA experts, she persuaded the convening authority to re-refer the case non-capital only a few weeks before trial was docketed to start.  During the sentencing portion of the case, Ms. Hyatt secured the minimum mandatory sentence from the panel due to her hard work and superior a advocacy.  

In May 2007, Ms. Hyatt then volunteered to serve as one of three Defense Counsel responsible for representing the nearly 30,000 Soldiers assigned to Northern Iraq.  In her first two weeks of arriving in theater, Ms. Hyatt represented four Soldiers at Article 32 Hearings resulting in two of which being dismissed prior to trial allowing the Soldiers to continue with the mission.  Not wanting Soldiers to have to travel to her, Ms. Hyatt opted instead to travel throughout Multi National Division-North taking over forty combat flights, establishing a Trial Defense Office in Mosul, Iraq, as well as traveling in and out of Theater to Fort Bragg as well as Fort Hood to represent Soldier-Clients at fully contested panel trials.  Never slowing down, Ms. Hyatt, in one seven day period, litigated four General Courts-Martials in which she successfully argued for the retention of two combat veterans.  Always approaching each case with tough advocacy, Ms. Hyatt secured the dismissal or alternative dispositions for four rape cases.  While deployed to the CENTCOM AOR, Ms. Hyatt, was called upon to advise in a three murder specification case as well as serve as the sole Defense Counsel for a Solider facing murder charges - both of which faced trials before members and were fully acquitted.   

After serving a year downrange, Ms. Hyatt returned to the Trial Defense Office at Schofield Barracks and continued her approach of tough advocacy, litigating case after case on behalf of her Soldier-Clients securing three more full acquittals for Soldiers accused of rape, drug use, conspiracy, and larceny.  Due to her skills as an advocate, Ms. Hyatt was also named by the Regional Defense Counsel as the best Trial Advocate in the Region.   

After having served as a Defense Counsel for Soldiers around the world for nearly five years, Ms. Hyatt made the difficult decision to leave the Active Component when faced with having to leave the Trial Defense Service Office. Given her unmatched track record, love of the courtroom and unrelenting desire to defend service members against the government, Ms. Hyatt was a perfect fit for The Bilecki Law Group.