About Keenan Douglas
Keenan Douglas Kmiec earned a B.S. from the University of Southern California in 2001 and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2004. His legal training began in classrooms and continued in courtrooms. Early on he pursued clerkships that placed him at the center of federal appellate and Supreme Court work.
He began his clerkship sequence immediately after law school. In 2004 he served as a law clerk to then‑Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The next year he clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2006 he served as a law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. at the Supreme Court of the United States. Those posts gave him direct exposure to appellate argument, opinion drafting, and the inner workings of multi‑tiered federal courts.
After his clerkships he entered private practice. He joined Sidley Austin LLP as an associate in 2008, working on matters that drew on his appellate experience. Two years later he helped found Hunter & Kmiec and became a partner there in 2010. At that firm he moved from firm associate to leadership and remains a partner, advising clients and handling litigation matters that arise in federal and appellate courts.
Kmiec is admitted to practice in California and holds membership in the California State Bar since 2005. He joined the District of Columbia Bar in 2009 and maintains that membership today. He is also admitted before the Second Circuit, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. These admissions allow him to appear in a range of federal trial and appellate venues.
Colleagues and opposing counsel know him for a methodical approach to briefing and oral argument. His background includes high‑level clerkships and experience at a major national firm, followed by work at a smaller litigation practice he helped establish. That trajectory has shaped a practice that often involves complex legal questions and layered procedural issues.
He is based at Hunter & Kmiec, where he handles matters arising in federal courts and on appeal. His current practice concentrates on appellate work and federal litigation.
