Kent has been a courtroom attorney for his entire career, prosecuting and defending the most challenging, high-profile and complex commercial and white collar criminal cases in Kentucky and around the country. Before entering private practice, he served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Chief for the Western District of Kentucky, where he also tried criminal fraud and public corruption cases. Kent has taught courses in Corporate and White-Collar Crime and Trial Practice at University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, and he has also taught Trial Practice at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Institute. He is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School.

Kent has been recognized and included in Best Lawyers in America, in Super Lawyers, and in Louisville Magazine’s “Top Lawyers in Louisville.” He was selected in 2017 and 2020 as Lawyer of the Year for White Collar Criminal Defense by Best Lawyers, and he is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell’s listing of American lawyers. Some of Kent’s recent accomplishments include winning the acquittal of a mining executive charged with defrauding the Mine Health and Safety Administration, winning the acquittal of the Kentucky Secretary of Transportation, who was charged with public corruption offenses, and winning the dismissal of a death penalty indictment on account of government misconduct. In 2016, Kent won a civil judgment of $573 million for his clients, the largest judgment of its kind in Kentucky history. Kent also regularly lectures on criminal law and trial practice issues, and he is often sought out for commentary by television and print media.