Civil Litigation

Kyle has successfully represented clients in high-stakes, bet-the-company civil litigation throughout the country, including lawsuits alleging ten-figure damages. Kyle’s work has involved a wide variety of clients, including in the finance, food, agribusiness, energy, medical-device, pharmaceutical, and gaming industries. He has represented and advised clients in all types of complex commercial disputes, including shareholder derivative actions, class actions, labor disputes, and environmental and product-liability suits. Leveraging his extensive experience, Kyle also counsels clients in the pre-litigation phase, advising them on strategies to avoid litigation when it aligns with their best interests.

Often, Kyle’s work involves allegations of fraud. He has served as both plaintiff and defense counsel in cases claiming millions (or sometimes billions) of dollars in fraud losses.

Kyle’s background in agriculture and energy makes him a go-to attorney for clients in and adjacent to those industries. With a degree in Agricultural Economics, experience as a state FFA officer, and employment at John Deere, he draws on his roots in rural America to offer knowledgeable insights. That deep understanding is what clients receive as he counsels on the risks and decision-making factors that are often unique to their industries.

Kyle’s prior work in college athletics also makes him a sought-after attorney for athletics-related clients, including athletes, coaches, and sports teams.

Highlights of Kyle’s civil experience include:

• Obtaining dismissal of a lawsuit alleging millions of dollars of fraud and wrongdoing related to an acquisition of several business entities.
• Obtaining dismissal of a bet-the-company securities-fraud class action for a renewable-energy client.
• Obtaining dismissal of a lawsuit involving suspicious activity reports for a major financial institution.
• Winning summary judgment on behalf of a client facing allegations of discrimination.
• For a food and agribusiness client, obtaining a favorable settlement of multiple lawsuits (including an offensive litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery) after the client’s founders sold the client to a private-equity company.

Criminal Litigation

Kyle’s broad experience in criminal law includes service as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. Kyle worked for five years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Iowa and elsewhere, specializing in complex investigations and prosecutions. He investigated and prosecuted dozens of cases involving mail fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, social-security fraud, COVID-relief fraud, public corruption and civil-rights offenses. Kyle has also represented clients facing the same types of charges.

Kyle’s familiarity with the criminal-justice system and his understanding of how prosecutors think about charging decisions, plea negotiations, and trial strategy make him a tremendous asset to clients under investigation or facing criminal charges, and Kyle guides clients through the most difficult periods in their lives.

Similarly, Kyle is a staunch advocate for crime victims. As a federal prosecutor, Kyle led prosecutions vindicating the rights of over one thousand victims of fraud, child-exploitation, and sex-trafficking offenses. Crime victims look to Kyle for representation to ensure that their voices are heard and that their rights are upheld during the criminal litigation and any subsequent civil proceedings.

Appeals

A gifted writer and oral advocate, Kyle is a natural appellate attorney. Kyle’s passion for appellate advocacy began in law school, where he served as an extern on the Kansas Court of Appeals, won the University of Iowa College of Law’s appellate advocacy competition, and presented a moot argument before the Supreme Court of Iowa. Following law school, Kyle clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Since then, Kyle has represented dozens of clients in civil and criminal matters in appellate courts throughout the country. Highlights of Kyle’s work include:

• United States v. McMillion, 101 F.4th 573 (8th Cir. 2024) – Briefed, argued, and obtained reversal of district court’s decision to suppress evidence.
• United States v. Warrington, 78 F.4th 1158 (10th Cir. 2023) – Briefed, argued, and obtained affirmance of trial convictions for sexual abuse, including multiple matters of first impression.
• Kearns v. United States, 23 F.4th 807 (8th Cir. 2022) – Briefed and obtained affirmance of a favorable decision involving complex issues under the Federal Torts Claims Act.
• Delgado v. Dept. of Justice, 979 F.3d 550 (7th Cir. 2020) – Briefed and obtained reversal of a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board against a whistleblower client, including an order directing that the Board to award damages without another hearing on the merits.
• United States v. Dridi, 952 F.3d 893 (7th Cir. 2020) – Briefed, argued, and obtained partial reversal of criminal client’s sentence, after the client had been convicted of fraud and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Investigations

Kyle has handled investigations involving millions of dollars of financial exposure for his clients or outright fraud perpetrated against his clients. These include investigations for clients in the finance, food, and agribusiness industries, among others. And as an Assistant United States Attorney, Kyle coordinated numerous white-collar and fraud-related investigations. His work resulted in several of the longest sentences ever imposed in the Southern District of Iowa for fraud. Highlights of Kyle’s investigative work includes:

• For an agrochemical client, investigated the client’s potential exposure concerning chemicals manufactured decades earlier by third-party companies the client had acquired.
• For a food and agribusiness client, investigated the actions and assets of a supplier who defrauded the client of over $30 million using multiple shell companies to conceal the fraud.
• United States v. Flaherty, 4:22-cr-061 (S.D. Iowa) –Investigated and prosecuted an insurance producer who, for nearly twenty years, defrauded over thirty elderly individuals. The insurance producer was sentenced to nineteen years in prison and ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution.
• United States v. Maung & Mi, 4:22-cr-156 (S.D. Iowa) –Investigated and prosecuted a father and daughter who orchestrated multi-million-dollar tax and unemployment fraud schemes, preying on hundreds of refugees and non-English speakers in central Iowa. The defendants were sentenced to twelve and nine years in prison, respectively, and ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution.

History

Kyle grew up in a small town in Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Agricultural Economics and an emphasis in Business. Kyle then attended the University of Iowa College of Law, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Iowa Law Review and graduated with Highest Honors. Following law school, Kyle clerked for the Honorable Steven M. Colloton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit before joining law firms Latham & Watkins LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Kyle then worked for five years as an Assistant United States Attorney, where his work focused primarily on white-collar, child-exploitation, and sex-trafficking offenses.

Kyle is passionate about protecting the rights of crime victims, including victims of sex trafficking, and he has presented on topics related to crime victims and elder fraud, as well as on topics related to white-collar, child-exploitation, and sex-trafficking offenses.