Harvey received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1969. He was a law clerk to a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for two years, then moved to the Bay Area and began his private practice as a trial lawyer and a business attorney. He's tried over 100 cases to verdict and has mediated and arbitrated hundreds more, both as an advocate and as a trained mediator and arbitrator. He's also handled numerous complex business transactions.

For SLS he is working exclusively on lateral partner moves because he understands the issues from the inside out. In his own career he's been an associate, moved to another firm, became a partner where he headed up recruiting, became a senior partner, served on the firm's executive committee, and served as the Chair of its litigation department.

Harvey is married, has three daughters and six grandchildren. He and his wife are avid horseback riders, have been on riding trips to Ireland, and have competed in various horse shows in Northern California. They split their time between their homes in San Francisco and Petaluma.