Dr. Kevin A. Hinkley

Biography

Mr. Kevin A. Hinkley is a graduate of Niagara University and Harvard Law School. Prof. Hinkley is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the University’s Pre-Law Advisement Program. Hinkley also serves as a Faculty Advisor for the Justice Houses Living-Learning Community.

Previously, Hinkley served as Niagara University’s General Counsel from 2017 to 2019. In that role, Hinkley was the senior official responsible for managing the University’s legal affairs, providing legal counsel to the Board of Trustees, the President, and senior staff, overseeing litigation, and developing legal advice for all sectors of the University.

Before his appointment as General Counsel, Prof. Hinkley spent more than two years as a member of Niagara’s faculty, serving as an Instructor and Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Political Science and Criminology and Criminal Justice, and in the University’s Writing 100 Program.

Before returning to Niagara in 2015, Hinkley practiced law at Webster Szanyi LLP and Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP in Buffalo, where he represented numerous healthcare providers, medical device companies, a nonprofit medical research institute, U.S. and international automotive companies, Native American-owned businesses, and a wide range of corporations and individuals involved in civil and criminal litigation. Hinkley previously served as a law clerk to Judge Raymond W. Gruender of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, DC.

In recognition of his pro bono contributions — including representing an imprisoned civil rights plaintiff — Hinkley was honored as 2011 Empire State Counsel and named to the Capital Pro Bono High Honor Roll. Hinkley has served as Education Director for the Charles S. Desmond American Inn of Court, and he was selected for the Super Lawyers Upstate New York Rising Stars List in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Prof. Hinkley’s research and teaching interests include mental health law, healthcare law and policy, constitutional law, civil rights, law and technology, utopia and dystopia, and environmental law, among others.

Educational Background

• Harvard Law School, J.D.
• Niagara University, B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science