Alexandra S. Haar-Justice

Alexandra S. Haar-Justice focuses her practice on appellate work and civil trials involving complex business litigation matters, including employment and labor issues, governmental entity defense, nonprofit/religious/school institution cases, premises liability, product liability, and motor vehicle accidents/personal injury.

Ms. Haar-Justice has experience handling all phases of the litigation process in state and federal courts, including pre-suit negotiations and early resolution, motion practice, discovery, trial, and appeal. In addition, she has experience arguing cases before the Missouri Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court.

Prior to joining HeplerBroom, Ms. Haar-Justice served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Kathianne Knaup Crane of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. She began her career as a trial attorney as an Assistant Circuit Attorney for the City of St. Louis, where she tried several bench and jury trial cases to conclusion and prevailed in her first appellate writ proceeding.

Education

• Washington University School of Law, J.D., 2011
• Washington University-St. Louis, B.A. in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology, 2008

LAW SCHOOL HONORS/INVOLVEMENT

• Gundlach Fellow
• Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life (2009)
• Washington University Law Review (formerly Law Quarterly)
  • Competitions & Development Editor (2010-2011)

Admissions & Affiliations

• Missouri
• U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri

• Lead counsel. Obtained dismissal with prejudice for failure to prosecute claims against employer arising out of repressed injury allegedly sustained in 1980s. (St. Louis City Circuit Court, Missouri, February 2023; plaintiff’s motion to set aside denied May 2023).
• Obtained summary judgment in companion cases against municipality alleging vicarious liability and direct negligence, arising out of police officers’ pursuit of vehicle. Complete defense judgment in both cases. (St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri, December 2022).
• Obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims against municipality and police chief alleging negligent hiring, supervision, and training under 18 U.S.C. § 1983 and Monell liability, arising out of police officers’ pursuit of vehicle. Complete judgment in favor of clients. (United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, August 2022).
• Lead counsel. Obtained summary judgment and dismissal of plaintiff’s claims arising from his contention of repressed memory of injury allegedly sustained in 1980s. (United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, August 2022).
• Lead counsel. Obtained complete injunctive and declaratory judgment, after bench trial, in favor of board of directors of nonprofit organization in dispute over corporate governance, amendment of corporate articles, real property, and other assets. (Saline County Circuit Court, Missouri, July 2022).

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• Local counsel. Part of team defending against three plaintiffs’ claims that use of personal care product caused their injuries. Plaintiffs asked for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages. Jury returned complete defense verdict. (St. Louis City Circuit Court, Missouri, September 2021).
• Lead counsel. Summary judgment affirmed, in part, on grounds that negligence-based claims against religious institution employer are barred under First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. (Missouri Supreme Court, April 2021).
• Lead counsel. Obtained complete injunctive judgment in favor of school bus company after several incidents where bus drivers were attacked by third parties. (St. Louis City Circuit Court, Missouri, November-December 2019, February 2020).
• Authored successful motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims against utility company alleging damage to personal property. Complete defense judgment. (St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri, September 2019).Lead counsel. Obtained complete defense judgment on plaintiff’s claims that nonprofit home wrongfully evicted him.  (St. Louis City Circuit Court, Missouri, July 2018).

• Second chair. Part of trial team defending against high school student’s claim against his school for injuries sustained when he attempted to climb an 8-foot-tall wrought iron fence. Plaintiff asked for $3 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Jury returned zero-fault verdict. (St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri, March 2018).
•  Authored appellate brief defending against plaintiff’s appeal of an order granting motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds. Judgment affirmed. (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, February 2016).
• Part of trial team defending against claim of intentional failure to supervise clergy. In less than four hours, jury returned defense verdicts in favor of both defendants. (Lincoln County Circuit Court, Missouri, April 2017).

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Honors & Awards

• Top Defense Wins of 2021 Award, Missouri Lawyer (co-winner)
• Missouri-Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Star (2021)
• Lawyers of Color
  • Nation's Best (Inaugural list, 2020)

Events & Speaking Engagements

• “What I Need Is a Good Defense, Cuz I’m Feelin’ Like a Criminal: An Ethical Overview of Attorney Representation and Involvement in the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol Attack,” Theodore McMillian American Inn of Court (St. Louis MO, 2021) (Co-presenter)

• “An Attorney’s Perspective on Missouri’s New Medical Marijuana Laws,” Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Not-For-Profit Conference (St. Louis MO, 2019).
• “Cannabis Law – Primer and Law Update,” Insuralex U.S. Seminar on Cutting Edge Issues: Legal Updates on Cyber Risks/Cannabis Law/Insurance Bad Faith, #MeToo (Chicago, 2019). (Co-presenter)

Blog Posts

Publications

• “Sweet Dreams Aren’t Made of These: How the VA’s Disability Compensation Program Leaves Veterans Alone in the Nightmare of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” 88 Wash. U. L. Rev. 969 (2011).