About

Joseph P. Klock, Jr graduated from the prestigious University of Miami School of Law where he was the Editor-in-Chief for the school’s Miami Law Review. He would go on to become president of the University of Miami Law Alumni Association, where he would receive the honor of Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award. Following his graduation in 1973, Mr. Klock also served as an adjunct law professor of law at his alma mater teaching civil procedure, federal jurisdiction and real property for a decade.

During his career practicing law, Joseph Klock has been a key player in many major cases. For over thirty days, he oversaw a team of more than fifteen lawyers representing then-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris during the 2000 presidential election. The following two years, he headed pair of legal teams defending Florida election laws on a state and federal level.

Mr. Klock continues to handle politically sensitive and high profile cases while also advising clients on issues such as wealth management and family wealth disposition. He works with a broad range of clients including professional race car teams, athletes, musicians, and more. He has also served on the board of trustees of Barry University and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School as well as the Boards of the Miami Art Museum, the Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, and St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Joe Klock spearheaded a team of 20 lawyers representing then-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the various Bush-Gore election challenges following the 2000 Presidential election. He personally argued multiple appeals and trial court proceedings in Florida appellate courts as well as a pair of successful appeals in a period of eight days to the United States Supreme Court.
  • After the 2000 election, Joe Klock oversaw teams responsible for defending Florida election laws from 2001-2003 in state and federal courts.Since then, he has litigated for candidates in contested state and local elections.
  • Joe Klock served as the lead counsel with a team of nearly thirty lawyers, representing a major health insurer in a $2 billion-plus federal False Claims Act litigation dealing with alleged Medicare overpayments in the trial courts The matter was then successfully settled while pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on highly agreeable terms.
  • Joe Klock remains a general counsel and chief legal officer of a large international sugar farming, manufacturing and distribution holding company, which conducts operations in countries like the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and more. These operations include Caribbean hotel and resort operations.
  • Joe Klock was responsible for leading a legal team in successfully resisting several class action suits looking to receive damages for lost wages for H2A guest workers from abroad, encompassing more than $100 million across a period of over two decades which involved foreign governments, regulators on a federal and state level, numerous workers, and persistent press coverage, resulting in three jury and a pair of non-jury verdicts favoring the companies, all of which have been affirmed on appeal.
  • To this day, Joe Klock litigates issues involving water quality and how farming operations affect the Everglades and surrounding waters and lands before the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission, the Division of Administrative Hearings, and a multitude of courts.
  • Joe Klock has managed cases deemed politically sensitive and high profile that have received extensive media coverage, including successfully arguing against amendments to the Florida state constitution that would have focused largely on farming operations for penurious taxes.
  • Joe Klock was the co-personal representative of one of the largest Florida probate estate cases, overseeing a multitude of investment portfolios plus extensive Texas oil and gas interests.
  • Joe Klock was a director to a publicly-traded producer of soft drink beverage products.
  • Joe Klock is currently a director of a corporation responsible for operating resort properties in the Dominican Republic, including Casa de Campo as well as negotiations involving numerous hotel management contracts for resort owners and developers in the Caribbean, Europe, the United States, and more.
  • Many clients have relied Joe Klock’s advice regarding wealth management and family wealth dispositions plus complex domestic and international marital litigation such as restructuring of business and property interests around the world.
  • Joe Klock has been involved in negotiations involving business entity break-up and dissolution, resolving complex business disputes. He has also mediated and negotiated intercompany and interfamily disputes without involving the courts.
  • Joe Klock has managed MDL and complex class action defense cases on a state and federal level.
  • Joe Klock has managed issues regarding post-trial and appellate issues involving novel or monetarily compelling issues, most recently the defense of a $70+ million verdict in South Florida federal court.
  • Joe Klock often argues cases in Florida appellate courts involving Florida constitutional and public interest law.
  • Joe Klock has served as a representative in countless private and governmental institutions in South America and the Caribbean, including in contested matters involving commercial sales and Chinese and South American purchase transactions.
  • Joe Klock has represented well-known athletes, music stars, horse breeders and owners, race tracks, and professional racing teams.
  • Joe Klock has been involved in successful settlement negotiations with networks and other media related to undesired private client publicity of private clients.
  • Joe Klock has managed child kidnapping on an international level and wrongful removal cases in the United States District Court.
  • Joe Klock has managed several notable profile matters involving marriage and family, both in the courtroom and outside of it
  • For a period of five years, Joe Klock served as Special and General Master In Family Court Division of Sixteenth Judicial Circuit for Chief Circuit Judge Sandra Taylor in cases involving guardianship and marital cases. He has also been a special master in United States District Court, Special Master in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, and as a School Board Hearing Officer in Miami-Dade County. For the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Joe has served as an adjudicatory tribunal member.
  • Joe Klock has managed more than 300 criminal charge matters against individuals and family members on a state and federal court level.
  • He has handled incompetency proceedings, guardianship issues, and interventions for substance abuse for domestic and international clients. He also has numerous years of experience working with clients dealing with substance abuse problems, including allied criminal and drug court issues.