Attorney Harley E. Riedel

Harley E. Riedel joined Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler, P.A. at its inception in 1974 after graduating from the University of Florida College of Law (with high honors), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Florida Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Mentored by the late Don M. Stichter, Harley tried his first state court case in Polk County Circuit Court only weeks after his admission to the bar and, in his early years, handled virtually every type of case and transaction. Insolvency law, however, with its unique combination of litigation and negotiation over a wide range of legal and business areas, particularly interested him.

Few lawyers in Florida have achieved the rankings in independent peer review surveys that Harley has. His ratings or rankings include:

• Super Lawyers – as the best lawyer in the entire State of Florida for seven different years, as one of the top three lawyers in the State on five other occasions, and in Super Lawyers’  Top Ten listing for 19 consecutive years;
• Chambers USA – as one of only three “Star Performers” in insolvency law in the State of Florida;
• Best Lawyers:
  • in the area of “Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Law” (continuously since 1989);
  • in the area of “Mediation;”  
• Florida Legal Elite – Hall of Fame;
• Martindale – as “AV Preeminent” (for more than forty years);

In 1994, at age forty-four, Harely was inducted as a Fellow into The American College of Bankruptcy. In 2007, he was honored by the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association with the McClurg Award for “outstanding effectiveness, thorough preparation, civility, courtesy, and professionalism at the highest level.” 

Harley is also active in bar activities. He was a founder of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association and served as its president. He has spoken and written on bankruptcy-related topics for the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, The Florida Bar, and numerous other legal and business groups.

In addition to his active representation of clients and mediation practice, Harley has served as the managing or co-managing shareholder of the firm for more than 40 years. But it has not been a hard task. Often named one of the best places to work, SRBP enjoys extraordinary loyalty from its professionals and staff, almost all of whom have worked at the firm for more than ten years – and many of whom have celebrated their twenty, thirty and even forty-year anniversaries with the firm.