Barbara Locke, Esq. is a bi-lingual, AV rated attorney, who after 25 years of experience litigating and mediating on behalf of her clients, is now dedicating herself to mediating and arbitrating disputes in both English and Spanish, on behalf of ATD’s clients.  Barbara has extensive admiralty experience, specializing in crew and passenger cases, seizures and forfeitures, mortgage and lien foreclosures, product failures, and disputes arising from the purchase and sale of vessels, particularly pleasure yachts.  She also has expertise and a proven track record in the areas of personal injury, products liability, financial institutions, complex commercial litigation, mortgage foreclosures, property and casualty insurance, and fraud and government investigations.   Committed to results, Barbara is prepared to work with attorneys and their clients to creatively resolve the parties’ differences.

Barbara served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Thomas E. Scott, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida before joining the law firm of Holland and Knight, LLP, where she rose from the ranks of associate to equity partner, serving a term as Executive Partner of the Miami office of the firm.  She left the firm in 2008 to start her own practice and focus on dispute resolution.  Barbara is a Certified Circuit Civil and Appellate Mediator with the State of Florida, is a Florida Supreme Court Qualified arbitrator, and has obtained a mortgage foreclosure mediation certificate for Florida Circuit Court foreclosures.  Barbara is also admitted as a Mediator in the USDC Middle District of Florida, and she is certified as an arbitrator and mediator for the Florida Bar Grievances Mediation and Fee Arbitration Program.

Barbara was born in Miami, and lived with her family for a substantial period of time in Costa Rica, where she graduated from high school and the University of Costa Rica.  After returning to the U.S., Barbara attended the University of Miami School of Law, where she served as an Editor of the Law Review, graduating magna cum laude.  

Barbara is committed to community involvement, and has held leadership positions in several civic and charitable organizations, including the Education Fund of Miami-Dade County, Autism Speaks, the United Way, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the University of Miami School of Business.  She is the recipient of several awards for her academic and community-based activities.