Lance Block

Lance Block’s statewide civil trial practice is based in Tallahassee, Florida, and consists of catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, including automobile collisions and crashworthiness safety, governmental torts, abuse or neglect of care, product liability, and medical negligence cases. He has tried cases and obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts, settlements and claims bill recoveries for clients across the state of Florida for almost thirty years.

Mr. Block is rated as an AV Preeminent Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been honored as an outstanding trial lawyer in numerous publications, including The Best Lawyers in America, the National Law Journal, U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms in America, Florida Trends’ Legal Elite, Super Lawyers, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and Florida Verdict Search.

Lance Block’s successes in the courtroom include one of the nation’s largest jury verdicts in 2005 ($30.6 million), the largest jury verdict ever under Florida’s Bill of Rights for the Developmentally Disabled ($8 million), and two cases which resulted in the largest jury verdicts in Florida at the time for a single personal injury ($25.6 million) and the wrongful death of a child ($9.25 million). Over his career as a trial attorney, Lance Block has multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements amounting to more than $400 million.

In addition to his trial practice, Lance Block represents clients and attorneys seeking claims bill relief from the Florida Legislature. Mr. Block has achieved the passage of numerous multi-million dollar claims bill awards, including the largest ever against the state of Florida ($18.2 million).

Lance Block has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1984. He is a past President of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (2000-2001), and past Chair of the Florida Lawyers Action Group (2000). In 2003 he received the Academy’s prestigious Jon Krupnick Award for Perseverance for his ten year successful fight for justice on behalf of a developmentally disabled woman who was sexually abused while living in a group home. In 2000, Mr. Block was the recipient of the AFTL’s Crystal Eagle Award; the Golden Eagle Award in 1997 and 1998; the Silver Eagle Award in 1996; and the Legislative “Most Valuable Player” and “Shoe Leather” awards in 1994.

A staunch advocate for children and persons with disabilities, Lance Block frequently represents developmentally disabled adults and children who were harmed as a result of abuse, neglect, or unreasonable care. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Block served as Chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities and was a Member of the Governor’s Task Force on Autism. From 1997 to 1999, Lance Block served as the President of the Arc of Palm Beach County (formerly Association of Retarded Citizens) and was the founding Board Chairman of the Potentials School, a charter school for children with severe developmental disabilities located in Riviera Beach, Florida. In 1995-96, Mr. Block served as a Trustee for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities Foundation. In conjunction with the Florida State University College of Law’s Public Interest Law Center, one of the nation’s leading public advocacy centers for children and disabled, the Lance Block Child Advocacy Clinical Professorship was established in 2007.

In addition to representing more than one hundred clients who have been abused and neglected, as Chairman of the Governor´s Commission on Disabilities from 2007 to 2010, Lance Block spearheaded legislation to strengthen legal protections against abuse and neglect of the developmentally disabled. Block authored changes to Florida Statute 393.13. The new law expanded protections under the Bill or Rights for Persons with Disabilities. On July 28, 2008, he received the Governor’s Point of Light Award for more than twenty years of service to persons with disabilities.

In the 2009 Florida Legislative session, Lance Block volunteered his services to the parents of Rachel Hoffman and successfully lobbied for Florida Statute 914.28, also known as “Rachel’s Law.” A year earlier, twenty-three year old Rachel Hoffman was slain during a police sting operation while serving the Tallahassee Police Department as a confidential informant. “Rachel’s Law” is landmark legislation, and Florida is the first state in the nation to establish statewide standards designed to protect civilians who assist law enforcement as confidential informants or perform undercover tasks.

During the 2000 Presidential election Lance Block was appointed lead attorney by the Chairman of the Florida Democratic Party for the recount of ballots in Palm Beach County on behalf of the Gore-Lieberman campaign. During the 2004 and 2008 Presidential elections, Mr. Block represented the Kerry-Edwards and Obama-Biden campaigns in Gadsden County, Florida.

Lance Block is a sixth-generation Floridian and was born in Live Oak, Florida on March 8, 1955. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (1979) and Juris Doctorate (1983) degrees from The Florida State University. He is lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and is the father of five children: Andrew, Sarah, Anna, Perry and Emily Rose.

If you would like to know more about Lance Block, please see his Resume and Bio.

Lance Block’s Resumé

Lance Block’s Bio