About Keith Hamilton
Keith Hamilton Fichtelman trained at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his B.A. He stayed in Los Angeles for law school and received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. The combination of a local undergraduate and law degree gave him deep exposure to both California legal culture and broader U.S. litigation practice early in his career.
He began his legal work in international criminal law. In 2007 he served as a chambers intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. That placement put him inside a tribunal setting and exposed him to complex evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in multijurisdictional disputes. A year later he moved into private practice as a trial lawyer at McDermott Will & Emery, where he handled court work and trial preparation.
By 2011 Fichtelman was working in Asia as a lawyer and solicitor at Lee Hong Degerman Kang & Waimey. His time there added cross-border transactional and litigation experience, and broadened his practice beyond the United States. He holds qualifications in New York and California and is also admitted in England & Wales, a combination that has allowed him to alternate between common-law jurisdictions while managing matters that span national borders.
In 2020 he joined Nelson Comis Kettle & Kinney LLP as a partner. The title reflects a move into firm leadership and client-facing responsibilities. Over the years he has combined courtroom and advisory work, moving between trial preparation and the drafting and negotiation side of disputes. His career path runs from an international tribunal to U.S. trial courts and to firm partnership, and it shows a pattern of handling litigation at different levels and in different systems.
Colleagues describe Fichtelman as methodical in court preparation and pragmatic in settlement discussions. He has worked on matters that require coordination across jurisdictions, and he draws on both his U.S. and England & Wales qualifications when those issues arise. Outside of litigation, his experience includes transactional review and regulatory matters tied to cross-border activity.
He currently practices at Nelson Comis Kettle & Kinney LLP, where his work centers on cross-border litigation and commercial disputes.
