Harris T. Bock, Esq.

Director of Dispute Resolution Institute, Mr. Bock is a respected and recognized leader in the ADR field.  One of the handful of full time neutrals in the Philadelphia area, his practice for the last two decades has been devoted exclusively to serving as arbitrator, mediator, factfinder or hearing officer.  Mr. Bock’s areas of expertise include business, personal injury, professional malpractice, employment, insurance, partnership, law firm and equitable distribution disputes.

Mr. Bock is routinely selected by agreement of counsel as well as State and Federal Judiciary to serve as Arbitrator, Special Master or Mediator.  He is currently Special Hearing Officer for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.  A frequent lecturer for continuing legal education programs, commercial trade associations, insurance carriers and Trial Lawyer and Defense Counsel groups in all aspects of dispute resolution, Mr. Bock has authored numerous articles in the ADR field.  He was the founding Managing Editor and was instrumental in initiating publication of The Philadelphia County Reporter in 1977 and served in such capacity until 1990.

Director Bock serves as a consultant in ADR design and utilization.  He created and implemented a unique mediation program in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court and served as Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association ADR Committee for five years.  Under his leadership, ADR awareness and utilization in the Philadelphia area increased substantially.  He has also served as special ADR Consultant to governmental entities and Fortune 500 companies, and was recently appointed by the Mayor, President of City Council, and the City Controller to serve as the Hearing Officer for the Philadelphia Water Department’s proposed $318 million rate increase for fiscal years 2009-2012.

Mr. Bock is currently Adjunct Professor of Alternative Dispute Resolution at Villanova Law School and has assisted in the teaching of courses on dispute resolution at numerous accredited institutions.  He served on the ADR Section of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission and on other state and national ADR related committees and organizations.  Mr. Bock also served as an Arbitrator for The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.

Mr. Bock was born and raised in Philadelphia.  After graduating from Central High School with Barnwell Honors in 1966, he was inducted into The Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society at Temple University, where he received his B.B.A. in 1970.  A 1973 graduate of Villanova Law School, and winner of the U.S. Law Week prize for academic excellence, he received his primary mediation training at Harvard Law School in 1990.  Since that time he has received and participated in extensive ADR training from numerous nationally respected training programs.  Mr. Bock has also taught mediation with faculty from Pepperdine University Law School’s renowned Straus Institute.

Mr. Bock is President of the Philadelphia Lawyers Club, a Board Member of Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a Board Member of the American Heart Association, trustee of Boys Town of Jerusalem, President of Vassar Square Condominiums, and former Chairman of the Radnor Township Housing Appeal Board.  He resides in theRittenhouse Square area of Philadelphia.