Kevin F. O'Malley, J.D.
Ambassador in Residence; Professor of Practice
School of Law
Center for International and Comparative Law
Education
A.B. Saint Louis University, 1970
J.D. Saint Louis University School of Law, 1973
Practice Areas
Medical Malpractice Defense
White Collar Criminal Defense
Publications and Media Placements
O’Malley, Grenig & Lee, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, (6th Ed. Thomson/West
2008)
O'Malley, Reitz & Hormuth, Missouri Trial Objections, (Thomson/West 2008)
“Jury Selection”, Personal Injury Defense Techniques, (Matthew Bender & Co., 1987)
"The Assessment of Costs in Federal Criminal Prosecutions", 31 Saint Louis University
Law Journal, 853 (1987)
"The Federal Criminal Liability of Bank Personnel Under the Misapplication Statute",
99 Banking Law Journal, 100 (1982)
"Missouri’s Changing Public Purpose Doctrine", 16 Saint Louis University Law Journal,
658 (1972)
Honors and Awards
Order of the Fleur de Lis, Saint Louis University School of Law, 2019
Honorary Doctorate in Medical Science, Saint Louis University, 2016
Honorary Bencher, Honorable Society of King’s Inn (Dublin), 2016
President, Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, 2014
Award of Honor, Lawyers Association of St. Louis, 2013
“Best Lawyers in America” —Medical Malpractice and White Collar Criminal Defense
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 2000
Visiting Professor, ABA Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) in
Warsaw, Poland and Moscow, Russian Federation
Community Work and Service
Upon graduation from Saint Louis University School of Law, where he served as an associate editor of its law review, Ambassador O’Malley joined the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and prosecuted Mafia cases in Washington, DC, California, Arizona, and Nevada. He later returned to his hometown of St. Louis as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and prosecuted white collar criminal cases. During this time of government service, he taught trial advocacy and white collar criminal law.
When entering the private practice of law, O’Malley specialized in the defense of physicians and hospitals in trials in which medical negligence was alleged. During this time, he was elected to Fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers and received the Award of Honor of the St. Louis Metropolitan Bar Association, both of which stress civility while resolving legal disputes. He was appointed to serve on the board which licenses and regulates Missouri’s physicians and, although its only non- physician member, was subsequently elected to serve as Board President. He has been consistently listed in The Best Lawyers in America.
O’Malley is the senior author of the nine-volume Federal Jury Practice and Instructions which has been cited by courts as “the Bible” on the topic and is routinely used in trials throughout the United States. He has published several scholarly articles in peer-reviewed legal journals both as a student and a veteran practitioner.
President Barack Obama called O'Malley back into government service when he nominated him to serve as the 31st United States Ambassador to Ireland. After taking up residence in Deerfield in Phoenix Park, Ambassador O’Malley set a course continually emphasizing two key goals: to broaden and strengthen the commercial ties between Ireland and the United States and to develop new and innovative ways to connect young Irish and American entrepreneurs and artists. Ambassador O’Malley’s “Creative Minds” series has been cited as the beginning of a new era in this regard and led the Irish government to establish its own “Creative Ireland” program to continue and supplement Ambassador O’Malley's efforts.