Contact

Location:

One Biscayne Tower
2 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 2030
Miami, FL 33131

Phone:

(800) 863-1462

Direct:

(305) 266-1224

Email:

lharke@uww-adr.com

About

Lance August Harke has practiced complex commercial litigation in South Florida for over 34 years, first as a defense attorney and partner at Steel Hector & Davis, and then through his own firm before joining UWWM as a full-time mediator and arbitrator.

Lance defended major corporations such as DuPont, New York Life Insurance, FPL and many others in high-stakes commercial litigation across the country, including class action defense, products liability, contracts, securities, employment and other commercial torts.

Over the last several decades he concentrated on prosecuting class actions, leading a wide variety of national multi-district mass tort and class action litigations, including some of the largest and most significant cases in United States history.

Beyond Florida, Lance has tried matters to verdict in numerous states and federal venues, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois, and New York. He is a former federal law clerk in the Southern District of Florida.

Lance is actively involved in numerous legal, business and community organizations. He is the current president of the Miami Shores Bar Association, and he is past president of Legal Services of Greater Miami, Temple Israel of Greater Miami and the Greater Miami Shores Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Lance is a past Editor-in-Chief of the University of Miami Law Review, a UM booster, and is a co-founder of the Miami Law Class Action & Complex Litigation Forum.

Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards and accolades for his legal work and contributions to the field of law and the general community.

Education/Distinctions

• Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, with honors, University of Florida (1987)
• Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, University of Miami School of Law (1990)
• Editor-in-Chief, University of Miami Law Review
• Recipient, Soia Mentschikoff Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing
• Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator
• Certified U.S. District Court Mediator, Southern District of Florida
• Florida Supreme Court Qualified Arbitrator

Admissions

• The Florida Bar
• United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Honors

• Listed, “Most Effective Lawyer” in complex business litigation, Daily Business Review
• Listed, Super Lawyer, Florida Super Lawyers
• Listed, “Top Lawyer” in corporate and business litigation, South Florida Legal Guide
• Listed, Florida’s Legal Leaders, Florida Trend magazine’s Legal Elite
• Rated, “AV” by Martindale Hubbell

Accreditations/Memberships

• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• Member, Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum

Publications

• The Scope of Discovery in the Federal Courts: A Survey of Published, Post-1980 Cases From the Federal Courts Regarding the Scope of Permissible Discovery in Civil Litigation, Editor, American Bar Association Section of Litigation
• Product Liability Desk Reference: A Fifty State Compendium, Contributing Author, Aspen Law and Business
• Positive business climate requires well-funded court system, Contributing Author, The Miami Herald
• Board of Contributors: Proposed legal services funding cuts would hit the less fortunate hardest, Contributing Author, Daily Business Review
• Judge Joan A. Lenard’s order for state to provide services to autistic children an important one, Contributing Author, Daily Business Review

Practice Areas

• Civil Litigation
• Class Action Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Litigation