Profile
Kya M. Henley represents companies and individuals facing government enforcement actions, internal investigations, and reputational crises. She defends clients in state attorney general investigations, False Claims Act matters, congressional inquiries, and regulatory examinations before agencies including the Department of Justice, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the D.C. and Maryland attorneys general, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Kya works across the entertainment, health care, sports, financial services, technology, insurance, nonprofit, and food industries, counseling boards and executives on enforcement risk, investigative strategy, and regulatory compliance. A trial attorney who began her career litigating criminal cases as first chair counsel with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, she brings courtroom judgment to matters that may never reach a courtroom.
Much of Kya’s work sits at the intersection of legal exposure and public scrutiny. She builds coordinated defense and communications strategies for clients confronting parallel proceedings, multistate regulatory activity, media attention, and internal allegations of executive misconduct. Clients also engage her for services including governance counseling, compliance advice, and oversight of multijurisdictional litigation.
Concentrations
- Government enforcement defense in U.S. Department of Justice and state attorney general investigations, False Claims Act and qui tam matters, and congressional inquiries.
- Regulatory investigations and examinations before federal and state agencies.
- Internal investigations into allegations of executive misconduct, whistleblower complaints, and compliance failures.
- Crisis management and reputational risk, including coordinated legal and communications strategy for parallel proceedings, multistate regulatory activity, and high-profile media scrutiny.
- Board and executive counseling on enforcement risk, regulatory compliance, and oversight of multijurisdictional litigation.
Capabilities
Experience
- Designed and executed a comprehensive litigation and crisis management strategy for the owner of a major sports franchise facing dual state attorney general enforcement actions for tax fraud, coordinating press strategy with national media outlets and litigation counsel, resulting in a full dismissal and reputation rehabilitation.°
- Secured a settlement for an entertainment industry client facing wage and hour theft allegations by an attorney general’s office.°
- Defended an insurance agency franchise against simultaneous coordinated investigations by three separate state regulators, resulting in no enforcement actions.°
- Represented financial professionals in an SEC/FINRA sweep targeting personal-device business communications.°
- Represented multiple health care companies in FCA investigations and litigation, from pre-suit inquiry through trial.°
- Led congressional investigations for a defense technology firm and a nursing home company.°
- Served as a core team member in a billion-dollar FCA trial; drafted dispositive and evidentiary motions.°
- Managed a high-profile defamation crisis for a school superintendent, securing a public retraction and favorable Washington Post coverage.°
- Conducted an expedited internal investigation for a leading online dating platform involving allegations of executive misconduct.°
- Represented a major healthcare system in an urgent internal review following a significant data breach.°
- Advised a food industry client on regulatory compliance and authored a compliance opinion letter, resulting in nationwide retail distribution by a major retailer.°
- Defended an entertainment industry employer in an EEOC discrimination investigation, securing a commission determination of no further inquiry.°
- Served as outside counsel to a global nonprofit, overseeing multijurisdictional litigation and governance matters.°
°The above representations were handled by Ms. Henley prior to her joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
- Trial Attorney, Maryland Office of the Public Defender, 2017-2018
- Policy Extern, Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, 2015
- Summer Law Clerk, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, 2015
- Research Analyst Intern, Kroll, 2012
- International Visitors Intern, U.S. Department of State, 2008
Recognition & Leadership
- Best Lawyers, “Ones to Watch in America”, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Washington, D.C., 2026-2027
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, “Rising Stars,” 2022
- Dores McCree Award, University of Michigan Law School, 2016
- Member, DC Bar, 2020-Present
- Member, Subcommittee on White Collar Crime & Individual Rights, 2025-Present
- Pro Bono Counsel, Helping Up Mission, 2021-Present
- Member, University of Michigan Law School Black Alumni Reunion Committee, 2016-Present
- Pathfinder, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), 2021
Credentials
- J.D., University of Michigan Law School
- B.A., University of Maryland
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- English, Native
- Spanish, Conversational