Michael Harriss

Michael Harriss is a Partner in Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, focusing on Commercial Litigation. He represents and defends companies in high-stakes consumer fraud, false advertising, and financial class actions throughout the country.

His practice often involves product labelling and marketing claims, particularly in the food and beverage, personal care, and health and wellness industries. Known for crafting strategic, business-aligned defences that protect clients’ reputations and long-term goals, his work has led to successful outcomes at every stage of litigation, including early pre-suit resolutions, dismissals at the pleading stage, and favourable classwide settlements.

His representative experience includes defending Target, S.C. Johnson & Son, The Honest Company, Atkins Nutritionals and Genworth Financial in putative class actions, and securing a favourable Fourth Circuit decision for a major North American energy company in a constitutional dispute involving the Eleventh Amendment and sovereign immunity. He also maintains a substantial appellate practice, including a Supreme Court amicus brief in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC cited by Justice Sotomayor in dissent.

Michael is recognised in Best Lawyers in America, “Ones to Watch” for Commercial Litigation (2022–2026) and as a Rising Star in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers. He holds a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law (2014) and a BA, magna cum laude, from Saint Louis University (2011).