Kevin Kalwary

Most of the time, it is imperative that the client’s identity is not a matter of public record and Kevin served to preserve that anonymity. On the other hand, when the client’s identity becomes public, Kevin is skilled at ensuring the client’s reputation is preserved in the court of public opinion.

Kevin was exceptionally well qualified for his dual role, having been in the news and communications business for nearly 30 years. He has won over 50 national and state journalism awards, including six television Emmys, five Florida Bar awards for legal news stories, 10 Associated Press awards and 13 Society of Professional Journalism awards.

Kevin began his career as a newspaper reporter for The Tampa Tribune, specializing in crime, politics and investigations. He has also covered politics for the Associated Press, as well as major news stories for Time Magazine. After 12 years in print journalism, Kevin moved to television, specializing in long-term investigative pieces for Tampa-affiliates WTSP-Channel 10 and WTVT-Channel 13, where he spent a total of 13 years.

In 1996, Kevin joined Cohen, Jayson & Foster. Employing the same skills that earned him media accolades, Kevin helps the firm’s legal staff ferret out hidden facts and determine the “story behind the story.” His ability to find witnesses and bring critical information to light provides the firm’s lawyers with a goldmine of evidence to use at settlement and trial.

As a new breed of law firm investigator, Kevin brought a different kind of investigative perspective to his cases. His background in journalism provides him with decades of experience in getting doors open and people talking. Kevin is trained with the subtle persuasive skills needed to convince people to volunteer important information. Kevin’s training as a journalist provides a foundation built on empathy and simple curiosity, attributes that give the firm’s attorneys added understanding in their representation of clients. His reputation for honesty and integrity is well known among judges, prosecutors and attorneys in the community.

Kevin uses his media and political contacts developed over more than 30 years as a journalist and law firm investigator and for the last 1½ running his own private investigative and consulting agency. Because of the high profile nature of many of his clients, Kevin became an expert in making appropriate use of the media to a client’s advantage, as well as keeping a case out of the spotlight when necessary.

On Sunday afternoons during the football season, Kevin can be seen walking the sidelines of Tampa Bay Buccaneer Football games in his role as an Associate Security Representative of the National Football League. He assists in background investigations, helps coordinate security and logistics for the visiting teams and game officials and moves around the stadium before, during and after games – reporting back to the NFL of potential problems.

Kevin also counsels clients in a wide range of media-related areas, including crisis management, corporate positioning, community relations, publicity, spokesperson training and public relations. He teaches a popular course for members of the American Inns of Court entitled “Welcome to the Lion’s Den,” on how to handle the intense glare of the media spotlight. Kevin is a graduate of The Ohio State University, majoring in journalism.