The focus of Mr. Haar's practice is civil and criminal trials and appeals in both federal and state courts. He has represented universities, law firms, banks, major corporations, insurance carriers and individuals in diverse contexts, including commercial, securities, professional liability, intellectual property, environmental and constitutional litigation. He has defended individuals and corporations in criminal investigations and proceedings involving allegations of corporate or securities fraud, tax violations, bank fraud, environmental violations and mail and wire fraud. He frequently represents clients in the federal and state appellate courts and has been retained specifically for appellate work in the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeals, and the Missouri Supreme Court.

Mr. Haar is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and of the American Bar Foundation. He is a former law clerk to then Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court and Judge Harold Leventhal of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. In the latter capacity, he was involved principally in organized crime and public corruption prosecutions. In 1994, he was appointed police commissioner in the City of St. Louis by Governor Mel Carnahan and served in that position until 1998. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve on the Committee on District Judge Education of the Federal Judicial Center from 2001 through 2007.

Since 2005, Mr. Haar has been named by Law and Politics as a Missouri - Kansas Super Lawyer in the area of Business Litigation. He has been listed among the top 50 lawyers in St. Louis and the top 100 lawyers in Missouri and Kansas according to a survey of lawyers in those States.

EDUCATION

Yale Law School, J.D., 1977 (Editor-in-Chief, Volume 86, Yale Law Journal)
Oxford University, B.Phil. Economics, 1974 (Rhodes Scholar)
Stanford University, B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1972

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Represented electrical utility with respect to criminal investigations, Public Utility Commission hearings, and environmental litigation, with the State of Missouri and private litigants, arising out of collapse of 1.5-billion-gallon mountaintop reservoir at the Taum Sauk pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant
• Represented majority shareholders of bank holding company and of large private corporation in defense of claims of breach of fiduciary duty and oppression of minority shareholders
• Represented defense contractor in federal investigations and shareholder derivative and class action lawsuits arising out of back-dating of stock options
• Represented major university in defense of qui tam action alleging Medicare fraud (Schuhardt v. Washington University, 390 F.3d 563 (8th Cir. 2004))
• Represented CFO of Fortune 500 cable television company in defense of federal criminal wire fraud charges and civil class action proceedings alleging accounting fraud
• Represented international energy company in defense of class action alleging PCB contamination along multi-state natural gas pipeline
• Represented numerous lawyers and law firms in defense of legal malpractice claims, criminal investigations and bar investigations arising in various contexts, including civil litigation, criminal defense, contempt, immigration, trusts and estates, and transactional matters
• Represented school district in landmark First Amendment case regarding school newspapers (Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988))
• Represented as lead trial counsel religious school where federal court found repeated constitutional violations by Missouri state officials and obtained acquittal of school official in related criminal prosecution (Heartland Academy Community Church v. Waddle, 317 F.Supp.2d 984 (E.D.Mo. 2004))
• Represented NHL hockey player charged with murder-for-hire
• Represented prominent state legislator and obtained acquittal in criminal prosecution for alleged sexual assault
• Represented internationally known Italian photographer in lawsuit filed by State of Missouri arising out of Benetton “We, On Death Row” Campaign

BAR ADMISSIONS

Missouri, 1979
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
United States Court of Veteran Appeals

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Member, Committee on District Judge Education of the Federal Judicial Center (2001-2007)
• Chair (1995-1997) and Member (1994-1995), Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group, Eastern District of Missouri
• Chair, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis Task Force on Litigation Reform (1992-1993)
• American Bar Association (Litigation, Science and Technology Law and Criminal Justice Sections)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Missouri Bar
• Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
• Lawyers Association of St. Louis

LECTURER

• Lecturer, U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society's Summer Institute for High School Teachers
• Adjunct Professor, Trial Practice, St. Louis University School of Law, 1986-1989
• Adjunct Professor, Litigation, Washington University School of Law, 1985-1987
• Lecturer on appellate advocacy, Washington University School of Law
• Lecturer on ethics and professionalism, St. Louis University School of Law
• Participant in CLE programs on constitutional litigation, business litigation, white collar criminal defense, and business torts

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Member, Board of Police Commissioners of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (1994-1998)
• Chair, Human Resources Committee, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
• 2004 Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association Person of the Year (for successful pro bono defense of community activists sued for libel and conspiracy by landlord of problem property)