MIAMI, May 12, 2021 - Lance August Harke - known for his roles in some of the largest and most significant national multi-district mass tort and class action cases in U.S. history - joined Upchurch Watson White & Max as a full-time dispute resolution professional earlier this month. He immediately became a member of UWWM's Center for National Class and Mass Actions and will be one of the presenters"Resolving Class Actions & Mass Claims in 2021: A Civil and Ethical Approach," the firm's May 18 Webinar offering continuing legal education (CLE) credit.
As a founding partner of his South Florida law firm before becoming a mediator and arbitrator, Mr. Harke had concentrated his practice in the areas of multi-state consumer class action litigation, business torts, insurance litigation, employment matters, professional malpractice, products liability defense, and general and complex commercial litigation. He was co-lead counsel in 30 of the largest U.S. settlements on behalf of borrowers against banks over their force-placed insurance practices. These actions have led to regulatory and structural changes in the force-placed insurance industry nationwide yielding more than $5.1 billion in monetary relief for millions of class members.
Mr. Harke also was co-lead counsel for In Re: Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Civil Action No. H-09-MD-2046, (pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas). Distinguished at the time as the largest data breach multidistrict litigation in the country's history, the action consisted of hundreds of millions of class members, including consumers and financial institutions, and resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the consumer class.
Beyond Florida, Mr. Harke has tried matters to verdict in numerous states and federal venues, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois, and New York.
Mr. Harke 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 the Greater Miami Shores Chamber of Commerce, past president of Temple Israel of Greater Miami and past president of Legal Services of Greater Miami.
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. He had an all-Florida education, earning his bachelor's degree at the University of Florida and his juris doctorate, cum laude, at the University of Miami School of Law. He was editor-in-chief of the University of Miami Law Review and received the Soia Mentschikoff Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing. More recently, he has been a contributing author for publications such as the South Florida Business Review and Miami Herald.
Mr. Harke, along with Podhurst Orseck and Koyzak Tropin, founded the highly successful University of Miami Class Action & Complex Litigation Forum, which brings together hundreds of academics, lawyers, business leaders, state and federal judges and other professionals each year. The forum also provides a substantial scholarship to a University of Miami School of Law student interested in the field.
For more information or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Mr. Harke, contact his case manager, Heather Lariscy, at hlariscy@uww-adr.com or (800) 863-1462.
About Upchurch Watson White & Max
A nationally leading mediation specialty firm, Upchurch Watson White & Max is known for facilitating reasonable agreements to resolve complex issues. From 11 offices in Florida and Alabama, state Supreme Court-certified attorney mediators with wide-ranging specialties serve as court-appointed and privately employed mediators, arbitrators and third-party neutral case managers, implementing innovative methods of alternative dispute resolution across the country. On the web: uww-adr.com.
Media Contact:
Catherine Klasne
(386) 253-1560
cklasne@uww-adr.com
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