Kyle W. Hoffman, an experienced trial lawyer and civil litigator, has joined the trial lawyers at Fitzgerald Knaier LLP. Before joining the firm, Mr. Hoffman worked for nearly twenty years in the United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of California, where he tried complicated fraud cases, briefed and argued over 70 appeals, and successfully defended the United States and its employees in high-stakes civil litigation, including excessive force/wrongful death cases brought against individual federal law enforcement officers, and complex litigations arising from legal challenges to various federal programs.
Mr. Hoffman's experience in the U.S. Attorney's Office was broad, including work in the criminal division, the civil division, and appeals. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2001, where he tried drug importation and then fraud and white-collar crime cases. The fraud/white-collar crime cases included two lengthy, multiple-defendant jury trials, resulting in five criminal convictions and years-long prison sentences, and a $20+ million dollar settlement with a corporate defendant.
Before his federal government service, Mr. Hoffman litigated business cases at Latham & Watkins, including jury and bench trials and an arbitration. These matters included a multi-party, high-stakes partnership dispute and fraud case that was tried -- and won -- in San Diego Superior Court alongside Fitzgerald Knaier's Ken Fitzgerald and legendary San Diego trial lawyer Gerry McMahon. Said Ken Fitzgerald, "I am thrilled to once again be practicing with my longtime friend and colleague Kyle Hoffman. We grew up together working on trials at Latham & Watkins, and we stayed in close touch over the years as Kyle used his considerable talents in public service as a federal prosecutor and civil litigator for the United States. Kyle brings a rare combination of extensive trial and appellate experience, gained through decades of practice in the civil and criminal arenas. He is a stand-up courtroom lawyer, who is well-respected in the federal bench and bar. We are honored that he chose to join our firm."
Mr. Hoffman attended law school at Boalt Hall - now Berkeley Law - where he was Order of the Coif and on the editorial board of the California Law Review. He then clerked for federal district court judge John S. Rhoades, Sr. in the Southern District of California. In 2000, he was one of two lawyers from the United States chosen by the American Inns of Court for a Pegasus Trust scholarship, enabling him to work alongside and learn from some of the best barristers at the Inns of Court in London England.
Prior to pursuing a legal career, Mr. Hoffman did graduate work in political theory at Harvard University, where he won awards for the quality of his teaching. Mr. Hoffman obtained his undergraduate degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
