Practice Areas

Joseph P. Klock has earned a reputation for his exceptional work in litigating a broad range of cases on a local and federal level. His career achievements which span decades have earned him coverage in many major publications including Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times, South Florida’s Sun Sentinel and the prestigious New York Times.

Currently working as a partner at the successful Miami-based law firm of Rasco Klock, Joseph Klock’s areas of practice are:

  • Litigation
  • Complex Civil and Criminal
  • Agricultural
  • Entertainment & Sports
  • Environmental
  • Family, Legacy & Wealth

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Florida
  • Pennsylvania

Representative Experience

  • For 32 days following the presidential election in 2000, he headed a team of 20 lawyers who represented then-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the various Bush-Gore election challenges. He personally argued multiple appeals and trial court proceedings in Florida appellate courts, an en banc appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; and two successful appeals within eight days to the United States Supreme Court.
  • Following the 2000 election, he headed the teams that defended Florida election laws during 2001-2003 in state and federal courts. He has since handled litigation for candidates in contested state and local elections.
  • He was lead counsel with a team of 27 lawyers in the representation of a major health insurer in a $2 billion-plus federal False Claims Act litigation regarding alleged Medicare overpayments in the trial courts and then successfully settled the matter while it was pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on highly favorable terms.
  • He has served and continues to serve as general counsel and chief legal officer of a major international sugar farming, manufacturing and distribution holding company, with extensive operations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, The Caribbean, and Mexico, including hotel and resort operations in the Caribbean.
  • He led a team of lawyers in successfully resisting a series of class action suits seeking damages for lost wages for H2A guest workers from abroad in excess of $100 million over a 23-year period involving foreign governments, federal and state regulators, thousands of workers, and unrelenting local, national and international press coverage, resulting in three jury and two non-jury verdicts in favor of the companies, all of which have been affirmed on appeal.
  • He has litigated and continues to litigate issues relating to water quality and the impact of farming operations on the Everglades and surrounding waters and lands before the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission, the Division of Administrative Hearings, state circuit, appellate, and supreme, as well as federal district and appellate courts.
  • He has handled politically sensitive and high-profile cases with extensive media coverage, including successfully arguing against amendments to the Florida state constitution that would have singled out farming operations for penurious taxes and which were being supported on a wide basis inclosing by the then vice president of the United States.
  • He served as co-personal representative of one of the largest estates ($750 million-plus) ever probated in Florida, overseeing multiple investment portfolios as well as extensive oil and gas interests in Texas.
  • He has served as a director to a publicly-traded vertically-integrated producer of soft drink beverage products.
  • He serves as a director of a corporation that operates resort properties in the Dominican Republic, including Casa de Campo, and negotiating numerous hotel management contracts for resort owners and developers in the United States, the Caribbean, South America and Europe.
  • He advises clients on wealth management and family wealth dispositions as well as complex U.S. and international marital litigation including the restructuring of business and property interests across the globe.
  • He has negotiated the break-ups and dissolution of business entities, resolving complicated business disputes, and has mediated and negotiated intercompany and interfamily disputes without resort to the courts.
  • He has handled MDL and complex class action defense cases in federal and state courts.
  • He has handled post-trial and appellate issues involving novel or monetarily significant issues, most recently the defense of a $79 million verdict in federal court in South Florida.
  • He frequently argues cases in Florida appellate courts on novel issues of Florida constitutional and public interest law.
  • He has represented numerous private and governmental institutions in South America and the Caribbean, including in contested matters dealing with commercial sales and purchase transactions between China and South America.
  • He has represented professional athletes, musicians, horse breeders and owners, race tracks, and professional race car teams.
  • He has successfully negotiated settlements with networks and other media regarding unwanted publicity of private clients.
  • He has handled international child kidnapping and wrongful removal cases in the United States District Court.
  • He has handled several very high profile marital and family matters, both inside and outside of court.
  • Served for five years as Special and General Master In Family Court Division of Sixteenth Judicial Circuit for Chief Circuit Judge Sandra Taylor in marital and guardianship cases, and has served as appointed special master in United States District Court, Special Master in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, and as a Miami-Dade County School Board Hearing Officer. He has also served as a member of an adjudicatory tribunal for the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
  • He has handled over 300 matters involving criminal charges against individuals and family members in state and federal courts.
  • He has handled incompetency proceedings, guardianships, and substance abuse interventions for foreign and domestic clients and has extensive experience dealing with clients with substance abuse problems, including interventions and allied criminal and drug court matters.