Vokey, Colby

Mr. Vokey is one of the most well known and prominent military lawyers in the world.  He has earned a national reputation as a hard-nosed, zealous criminal defense trial attorney.  A retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps, he has been involved in some of the most highly publicized military cases this century.  He served as the lead counsel for a Canadian teenager detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and held for trial by a military commission on murder and terrorism charges.  Mr. Vokey also defended the Marine squad leader accused of killing 18 people in the now infamous city of Haditha, Iraq. 

Mr. Vokey served his country as a Marine Corps officer for over 20 years. He first served as an artillery officer, to include a combat tour during the first Persian Gulf War. Mr. Vokey also handled a variety of critical jobs involving sensitive or classified information. He was then selected for the highly competitive military law program. After graduating with distinction from law school, where he was also honored with selection to the Order of the Barristers, Mr. Vokey began a career as a trial lawyer.  With the exception of one year spent obtaining his Masters of Law, he spent all of his time as a military judge advocate in the courtroom as either a prosecutor or defense attorney.

Mr. Vokey has tried hundreds of cases as both a prosecutor and defense counsel.  As chief prosecutor for the busiest trial team in all of the Department of Defense at Camp Pendleton, California, he supervised or tried hundreds of cases.  Not the one to sit on the sidelines, Mr. Vokey served as lead prosecutor for many cases to include murder, drug distribution, rape and a highly publicized bank fraud case involving the attempted theft of millions of dollars from the Federal Reserve.  Mr. Vokey often worked closely with law enforcement organizations such as NCIS, FBI and military investigators during both the investigation and trial stages.  As a result of his performance, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Secretary of the Navy.

As a defense attorney, Mr. Vokey earned the reputation as an aggressive and tough advocate for his clients, both military and civilian.  As the Chief of all Marine Corps defense counsel in the Western half of the United States and in Iraq, he was responsible for the defense of service members charged with a variety of crimes.  Many of those cases would come out of combat actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and included numerous cases of war crimes cases against U.S. service members.   He personally defended numerous clients, to include those charged with murder, manslaughter and other major offenses.   He constantly fought for the rights of accused servicemembers in and out of the courtroom.  Observing our men and women returning from multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr. Vokey noticed that many were suffering from post traumatic stress, combat stress or other mental health issues.  In an interview with USA Today newspaper, Mr. Vokey became a strong supporter of the rights of service members who returned from combat with a variety of mental health disorders only to find themselves being kicked out of the service.

Mr. Vokey has been asked to speak all over the United States and overseas on criminal law, international law, veterans' rights and a variety of other topics.  His speeches and presentations include those at Harvard Law School and Harvard International Legal Studies; Keynote Speaker for 2008 Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association Banquet; University of Virginia International Law Symposium; Human Rights Conference, House of Commons, London, England; Dallas Bar Association; Colorado Trial Lawyers Association; John Marshall Law School, Atlanta; Texas A&M University; Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego; South Texas College of Law, Houston; University of North Dakota School of Law; Federal Bar Association, Dallas Chapter; Banyard Inns of Court, Orange County, California; San Diego Public Defenders Association; Mira Costa College, Vista, California.  In addition to hundreds of television, radio, magazine and newspaper interviews in the United States and abroad and his own entry on the online Wikipedia website, Mr. Vokey has been the subject of several feature stories, such as: the segment All Things Considered on National Public Radio; Texas Aggie magazine, San Diego Union Tribune newspaper; and the Dallas Morning News. 

Joining Fitzpatrick Hagood Smith & Uhl LLP in 2008, Mr. Vokey brings to the firm a wealth of trial experience and an expertise in military law.   His trial record and reputation along with his impeccable qualifications and solid work ethic put him among the very best in the representation of service members, citizens and businesses that find themselves subject to investigation and prosecution in criminal matters.

Additionally, Mr. Vokey has served as an expert witness and consultant in military matters for both state and federal cases. His wide and varied experiences qualify him to provide expert opinion, advice and testimonial in: general military matters; strategy, tactics and operations; military administration; military benefits, separation and retirement; criminal law; military law; and government contracting and ethics.

Recommendations From Other Attorneys:

"Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, USMC (Ret.) is one of the finest military criminal defense lawyers I have ever met in my 34 years of practice.  He is a true gunfighter.  He never gives up and knows how to pin a prosecutor down.  He holds the government to their burden and never lets them up.  Colby Vokey is a defendant's best chance in any military court room.  He is THE Man."

J. L. Siegel
Colonel, USMC (Ret.)
Director, Mock Trial Program, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

"Colby Vokey has the biggest set of cojones of any military defense counsel I have had the pleasure to know during my 45 years of service as an attorney handling military cases.  He is aggressive, diligent, knowledgeable and unafraid to take on the government.  I have and will continue to refer him cases because I know he will do the job."

David M. Brahms
Brigadier General, USMC (Ret.)
Former Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps

Expert Witness: 
  General military matters
  Military operations, strategy and tactics
  Military administration
  Criminal law
  Military law
  Military regulations, directives and orders