We are pleased to announce that Fan Li, a Harvard Law School graduate with one of the most impressive trial track records ever at the Miami-Dade County Public Defender’s office, has joined Kelley | Uustal trial attorneys.
He has tried more than 60 jury and bench trials ranging from misdemeanors to attempted murder during his time with Miami-Dade. While there he led litigation challenging unaffordable bail and spearheaded a successful effort to block the removal of public defenders from cases.
In addition, he crafted a motion arguing against the constitutionality of police using marijuana odor as a sole basis for arrest, ultimately winning the dismissal of all such public defender cases in the county.
Passionate about social, racial and criminal justice issues, he worked summers for legal aid organizations in Washington, D.C., and Bangladesh, and for the Prison Legal Assistance Project while at Harvard. At law school, he served on the academic committee of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.
He is a member of the Florida Bar’s Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, and has lived in a half-dozen cities in China, Canada, and the United States.
A dean’s list student in English at the University of Toronto, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 2009 with honors, he has won several awards for his short stories and essays, including the Short Fiction Contest award in 2011 from the prestigious Kenyon Review.
