Holland & Knight
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| Holland & Knight LLP | |
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| Headquarters | Decentralized |
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| No. of Offices | 17 U.S., 2 international, 2 representative |
| No. of Attorneys | 1,150+ |
| Major Practice Areas | General Practice |
| Date Founded | 1968 |
| Company Type | Law Firm |
| Website | hklaw.com |
Holland & Knight is a law firm with more than 1,150 lawyers in 17 U.S. offices. Other offices around the world are located in Beijing, China, and Mexico City, Mexico, with representative offices in Caracas, Venezuela, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Holland & Knight is the 36th largest law firm in the world, providing representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law. The firm's interdisciplinary practice groups and industry-based teams permit clients access to attorneys throughout the firm, regardless of location.
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[edit] Office Locations
Holland & Knight has offices in Atlanta, Bethesda, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Northern Virginia (Tyson's Corner), Orlando, Portland, San Francisco, Tallahassee, Tampa, Washington, D.C.,West Palm Beach, Beijing, and Mexico City, and representative offices in Caracas and Tel Aviv.
[edit] History of Holland & Knight
Predecessor Firms
The Knight firm was founded in the early days of industry and commerce in Tampa, the business center of Florida's west coast. The Holland firm was established in inland Polk County, Florida, then a center of citrus production and phosphate mining. In 1968, two law firms merged to form Holland & Knight.
Spessard Holland
A young Spessard Holland declined a contract to pitch for the Philadelphia Athletics and went on to graduate magna cum laude from Emory University in 1912. He was the top student in the University of Florida Law School class of 1916[citation needed], and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross after an aerial mission behind enemy lines during World War I.
Mr. Holland served as county judge eight years after the war, then established a law practice in 1929 with W.F. Bevis in Bartow, in Polk County, Florida. In his political career, he served as Florida's governor 1941-1945 during World War II and 24 years as a U.S. Senator 1946-1971. While neither the first native Floridian governor nor first native Senator, he was the first native Floridian to serve in both offices.[citation needed]
When Senator Holland retired at the end of his fourth term as senator in 1970, Senator Sam Ervin said, "I have depended upon him more than any other member of the Senate for advice."[citation needed]
After leaving the Senate in January 1971, he returned to Holland & Knight to practice law until his death in November 1971.
Peter O. Knight
After graduating from Valparaiso University Law School at age 18, Peter O. Knight moved to Fort Myers, Florida, and was elected mayor in 1886 shortly before his 21st birthday. Following service in the Florida Legislature, he settled in Tampa, Florida in 1889, five years after the city was chartered, to start a law practice. In addition to his work as an attorney, Mr. Knight founded the area's present electric utility and a major bank.[citation needed]
When Mr. Knight resigned from the last political office he held, Hillsborough County State Attorney, in 1902, he said that he would never again seek public office. He preferred, he said, "to do what I can as a private citizen."[citation needed]
Mr. Knight declined President Warren G. Harding's invitation to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.[citation needed] When Mr. Knight died in 1946, U.S. Senator Spessard L. Holland was a pallbearer at his funeral[citation needed] -- 22 years before the names of Holland and Knight would be linked in one of Florida's largest law firms.
Chesterfield Smith
Chesterfield Smith served as managing partner of the combined firm 1968 to 1983.[citation needed]
He was president of The Florida Bar in 1964-65, and became president of the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1973-74. Mr. Smith served also as Chairman of the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission.[citation needed]
During his 55-year professional career, Chesterfield Smith gained notoriety as the outspoken president of the ABA who made an early public call to investigate President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
Mr. Smith developed a firm with a presence in major U.S. markets in which the local offices would not operate as individual profit centers, but would be able to match the lawyer with the best skills for a particular client need, regardless of geography.[citation needed]
Often called "America's Lawyer"[citation needed] and "the conscience of the legal profession,"[citation needed] Chesterfield Smith is responsible for the shared values and core beliefs that continue to earn Holland & Knight recognition as a law firm that balances profits with public duty.[citation needed]
Other Partners of Holland & Knight
Partners of the firm include former state and local bar presidents and presidents of the American Bar Association and the National Conference of Bar Presidents.[citation needed]
Other partners have held other public and professional positions, such as chairs of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, federal and state trial and appellate judges, chairs of several sections of the American Bar Association, members of the U.S. House and Senate, and a former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
[edit] Diversity
Holland & Knight has established a firmwide Diversity Council, several Affinity Groups, local office Diversity Committees, mentoring programs and other diversity-related programs and initiatives. The firm's diversity efforts have been recognized by a number of organizations, including:
- The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, assigned Holland & Knight a “100,” or “perfect” rating on its 2008 Corporate Equality Index and Best Places to Work Survey.
- The firm was named a “Best Law Firm for Women” by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. Profiled in the August/September 2007 issue of Working Mother magazine, Holland & Knight is honored for creating a work environment that is hospitable to and encouraging of the advancement of women. “With innovative programs and policies that help female attorneys achieve balance in their personal and professional lives and thrive as practitioners, Holland & Knight is ensuring that women are the future of private law practice.”[1]
- The firm was awarded the 2007 CREW Network Impact Award for the category of “Industry Innovator” by Commercial Real Estate Women (“CREW”). This award recognizes an organization that fosters a culture of innovation, dedication to diversity and the equal advancement of women and men in commercial real estate.
- The Minority Law Journal recently ranked Holland & Knight #2 in the nation for most minority partners and Hispanic attorneys.[2]
- Multicultural Law Magazine named Holland & Knight to its list of “100 Top Law Firms for Diversity.”
- The firm received “The Safe Haven Award” at the annual Immigration Equality Annual Benefit and Award Dinner, honoring pro bono attorneys who help win asylum for GLBT people fleeing persecution in foreign countries.
- The firm was awarded the “Michael K. Reese Quality of Life Award” by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division in honor of the firm’s demonstrated commitment to supporting personal work-life choices, its pro bono activities, domestic partner benefits, career and professional development practices, favorable leave policies for both men and women, and community service.
Women's Initiative - Rising Stars Program
Each year Holland & Knight selects a group of talented and dedicated women lawyers to participate in Rising Stars, a dynamic and intensive program of leadership, marketing, management and professional skills development, professional mentoring and experiential learning. The goals of the year-long program are to prepare participants for leadership opportunities within the firm, elevate their profiles within the legal profession and community, and increase their success in business development.
To be eligible, Rising Stars candidates must be in at least their seventh year of practice. Other selection criteria include professional experience, community involvement, motivation to be a leader, and the ability to invest the time and effort necessary for success. Program applications are generally solicited each fall for participation in the following year.
Clients are the ultimate beneficiaries of Rising Stars. Through such programs, Holland & Knight is able to fields teams that are not only diverse, but also provide broader perspectives to clients' most difficult challenges.
[edit] Pro Bono Work
Holland & Knight established its Community Services Team (CST) in 1990 to more effectively marshal its resources to provide legal representation to those who cannot afford it. The CST is a structured, institutionalized department within the firm, drawing on all of the firm's resources and staffed by full-time lawyers with extensive knowledge and experience in their fields of practice.
The CST lawyers and Smith Fellows concentrate their efforts on cases with substantial issues affecting large numbers of people. They are frequently assisted by other lawyers throughout the firm. This institutionalized commitment to pro bono work has produced significant results. Holland & Knight has represented thousands of people with legal problems who otherwise would have been denied access to the legal system. Some of their clients include:
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- Delma Banks, who was on death row for 20 years before Holland & Knight obtained a reversal of his death sentence
- Wilbert Rideau, a prisoner who spent 44 years in jail until he was freed through a jury verdict
- Haitian victims of torture, arbitrary detention, extra-judicial killing, and crimes against humanity for whom the firm obtained a $4.3 million federal jury verdict
- Mohammed Al Rehaief, an American hero who, with his family, helped save POW Jessica Lynch in Iraq
- Malik Jarno, a mentally-retarded teenage orphan from Guinea, in his civil rights and asylum claims
- Dependent and delinquent children who need but are not receiving mental health services
- African-American survivors of Rosewood, a town destroyed in 1923 by white neighbors
- Thousands of African-American would-be renters denied housing in a decade-long scheme
- Low-income pregnant women who were unwitting subjects of medical experimentation
- Prisoners with HIV/AIDS in Alabama facing life-threatening conditions and treatment
- Death row inmates experiencing deplorable conditions of confinement in Mississippi
Chesterfield Smith Fellowships
The goal of the Chesterfield Smith Fellowship Program is to find young lawyers who, in the tradition of Chesterfield, want to have a very successful private practice while at the same time fulfilling their professional commitment to providing access to the justice system for those who cannot afford to pay for legal services. Thus, participants in the Chesterfield Smith Fellowship Program come to Holland & Knight after exceptional performance both in college and law school, frequently after completing a prestigious federal clerkship.
Smith Fellows spend their first two years with the firm as part of the Community Services Team primarily doing pro bono work under the supervision of Holland & Knight partners and frequently working on major cases where Holland & Knight co-counsels with nationally-recognized advocacy organizations. They also work on selected cases for Holland & Knight's paying clients.
After completing this two-year term primarily doing pro bono work, Smith Fellows are then assigned to one of the firm's practice areas as third-year associates. Even then, the firm expects Smith Fellows to continue performing at least 100 to 200 hours of pro bono work each year.
Smith Fellows receive the same compensation and benefits as other associates and advance within the firm on the regular partnership track.
[edit] Charitable Work
Charitable giving is managed and coordinated by the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, which was established as a 501(c)(3) public charity in 1996. Funded through contributions from the firm, Holland & Knight attorneys and staff, as well as external sources, the foundation underwrites several important programs that support education.
Opening Doors for Children
Staffed by volunteers, Holland & Knight's Opening Doors for Children program serves as a mentoring and tutoring program for thousands of children and schools across America. Holland & Knight also supports several essay contests for high school students:
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- The Holocaust Remembrance Project[3]is a national essay contest for high school students to promote the study of the Holocaust. This annual contest culminates with scholarships to winning students and a trip to Washington D.C.
- The Young Native Writers Essay Contest[4]is a writing contest for Native American high school students and is designed to inspire honest portrayals of the richness of Native American life and history.
9/11 Memorial Wall
On Sept. 11, when two hijacked airplanes were deliberately flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, Glenn Winuk – a Holland & Knight partner, and volunteer firefighter and EMT – ran out of his office toward the burning buildings to help. Like so many others, Glenn lost his life in an act that could only be described as truly heroic.
Inspired by those events, lawyers and staff throughout the firm's offices began a grassroots campaign to build a tribute dedicated to Glenn and the 343 members of the FDNY who perished.
In the fall of 2002, the New York City Fire Department accepted Holland & Knight's offer to fund and build a national memorial in the form of a memorial wall. The Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation established the New York City Firefighter Memorial Wall Fund and began accepting donations and pledges from partners and staff members within the firm. These gifts were added to the remainder of the Ice Fund which had been established at Ground Zero.[5]
The completed 9-11 Memorial Wall[6]depicts FDNY members responding to the scene on Sept. 11 and honors those who responded as well as those who continued to work on-site until recovery operations were completed. A listing of active Fire Department members lost on 9-11 is displayed on the sculpture by rank (in alphabetical order) and includes each member's company number. A timeline of major milestone events pertaining to attacks and the Department's rescue and recover effort also is incorporated into the base of the rendering. An inscription on its upper portion reads, "Dedicated to those who fell and to those who carry on – May we never forget."
The memorial was designed by the Rambusch Company, a New Jersey firm of artisans which opened in 1898 and specializes in ecumenical metal work, stained glass and lighting. The Wall is a bas relief made of solid bronze and was cast in Brooklyn, New York. It is 56 feet in length and approximately 6 feet high. It is believed to be the largest sculpture of its kind in North America.
The Wall's location is at the Fire Station known as Ladder 10/Station 10 ("Ten House"), directly across the street from the site of the World Trade Center, and one block from Holland & Knight's New York office. This station served as the command center of recovery operations on September 11th. The 343 firefighters, including five from Ten House, were lost just steps away. Later, Ten House was used as a rest and recuperation station as well as a command post for fire department operations at the site.
In a ceremony punctuated by dignitary appearances and attended by hundreds of surviving family members of New York City Firefighters who died on Sept. 11, the 9-11 Memorial Wall was formally unveiled and presented to the NYC Fire Department. The dedication, held June 11, 2006, marks the fourth anniversary of the conclusion of Fire Department recovery operations at Ground Zero.
Holland & Knight leaders and government officials shared remarks between the stirring musical selections, performed by the Choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street; Tom Paxton (who performed "The Bravest"); FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums; and FDNY Firefighter Danny Walker. President George W. Bush and New York Gov. George Pataki addressed the crowd via video presentations. Jay Winuk, brother of Holland & Knight Partner and volunteer firefighter Glenn Winuk, spoke poignantly on behalf of the Winuk family.
Lawyers and staff, along with former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, took part in the historic occasion that paid tribute to the 343 members of the NYC Fire Department as well as Glenn Winuk, all of whom died on that tragic day.
Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom
The Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom at the University of Florida Levin College of Law was dedicated on Sept. 21, 2006, by a distinguished group of friends and colleagues of the legendary Chesterfield Smith: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, UF President Bernie Machen, Levin College of Law Dean Robert Jerry, Holland & Knight Managing Partner Howell W. Melton, Jr., and Holland & Knight partner and chair of the firm's Directors Committee Martha Barnett.
Founder and chairman emeritus of Holland & Knight, Chesterfield Smith (1917-2003) was one of the country’s most prominent lawyers, and his name remains one of the most revered in national legal circles. He was the chief architect of Florida’s Constitution, a champion of pro bono work and diversity in the legal profession and the outspoken president of the American Bar Association, who in 1973 was one of the first national figures to call for President Nixon’s resignation.
In what was instantly dubbed the Saturday Night Massacre, President Richard Nixon fired the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal, prompting the nation’s attorney general and top assistant to resign. Almost immediately, without a protracted debate or consensus among his peers, Smith spoke out, telling the nation and the president, “No man is above the law.” Smith went on to lead the ABA’s effort to call for an independent counsel to investigate Nixon. His early voice of leadership altered history by becoming a catalyst in the president’s ultimate resignation.
The classroom that now bears his name is the result of a collective effort by Smith's colleagues, friends and admirers to honor his legacy. Funded through the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc., it is the largest classroom at the law school and also serves as a main location for conferences and workshops. Smith graduated from the law school in 1948.
[edit] Practice Areas
Holland & Knight's legal capabilities span an extensive range of practices and industries, including:
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[edit] Rankings and awards
Firm
- Holland & Knight is ranked among the nation's top 30 law firms for the delivery of superior client service and satisfaction, according to BTI Consulting Group's annual survey of more than 250 corporate counsel at Fortune 1000 organizations. This is the sixth year that Holland & Knight has been named to the list of Top 30 law firms – a distinction held by just four other firms. (2008)[7]
- 198 lawyers in 49 different practice areas were named The Best Lawyers in America for 2008.[8]
- 18th largest law firm in the U.S. according to the National Law Journal’s NLJ 250 report. (November 2007)[9]
- Ranked 2nd in the Minority Law Journal’s 2007 Diversity Scorecard for the number of minority partners and Hispanic lawyers. (Summer 2007)[10]
- Ranked 32nd in American Lawyer’s Am Law 100 report based on 2006 gross revenues and posted the 3rd highest increase in Revenue Per Lawyer - 21%. (May 2007)[11]
Litigation
- The Best Lawyers in America 2008 selected 85 Holland & Knight Litigation lawyers.[12]
- 32 lawyers recognized in Chambers USA 2007, and the following practice areas were ranked in the Top Tier: Construction (FL), Media & Entertainment: Transactional (IL), Transportation: Aviation: Litigation (National), Transportation: Road (Carriage/Commercial) (National), Transportation: Shipping: Finance (National), and Transportation: Shipping: Litigation (National and NY).[13]
- Ranked 2nd Bankruptcy Law Firm in the U.S. by The Deal, with 491 active bankruptcy cases. (September 2007)[14]
- Received the NameProtect Trademark Insider Award for the firm’s significant trademark filing activities in 2006. Ranked 15th in NameProtect’s year-end report based on the number of new trademark applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. (April 2007)[15]
- Maritime and Aviation lawyers named national experts in their respective practice areas by Euromoney Legal Media Group, publisher of the Euromoney Expert Guides series. (2006)[16]
Government
- The Best Lawyers in America 2008 selected 16 Holland & Knight Government lawyers.[17]
- 12 lawyers recognized in Chambers USA 2007 and ranked in the Top Tier nationally in Native American Law.[18]
- A report by Influence magazine ranked Holland & Knight 8th in The Influence 50 list which reports overall rankings of both law firms and lobby shops and 6th for law firms based on lobbying revenues in 2006. (March 2007)[19]
- Former Congressmen Gerry Sikorski (D-MN) and Rich Gold named among the top lobbyist by The Hill. (April 2007)[20]
- Ranked 13th among the top lobbying firms in the U.S. according to the National Journal. In addition, Rich Gold was named as one of the leading Democratic Lobbyists. (March 2007)[21]
- The Indian Law Practice Group, a team of over 20 highly experienced attorneys and government specialists devoted to the unique needs of tribal governments and the complex field of Indian law, was recognized in The Hill newspaper as one of the top Indian Affairs advocacy practices in the nation. (February 2006)[22]
- Authors of the four-volume Indian Gaming Handbook, the leading reference work in the field and now in its 6th edition.
Business
- The Best Lawyers in America 2008 selected 64 Holland & Knight Business lawyers.[23]
- 4 lawyers recognized in Chambers Global 2008.[24]
- 32 lawyers recognized by Chambers USA 2007; and the following practice areas were ranked in the Top Tier: Banking and Finance (FL), Corporate/M&A (FL), Immigration (FL), and Tax (FL).[25]
- 1 lawyer named to Worth Magazine's Top 100 Attorneys List. (December 2007)[26]
- Holland & Knight has the largest trust and estate group of any law firm in the U.S., and the largest number of lawyers who are Fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).
Real Estate
- The Best Lawyers in America 2008 selected 33 Holland & Knight Real Estate lawyers.[27]
- 14 lawyers from seven different markets are recognized among the nation’s leading Real Estate practitioners in Chambers USA 2007; and the following practice areas were ranked in the Top Tier: Real Estate (D.C.) and Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use (FL).[28]
- Ranked 8th in the nation in the 2007 Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms.[29]
- Ranked 12th by Midwest Real Estate News as one of the top Real Estate firms in the Midwest. (May 2006)[30]
[edit] References
- ^ Working Mother Magazine, August/September 2007
- ^ Minority Law Journal, Summer 2007
- ^ Holocaust Remembrance Project
- ^ Young Native Writers Essay Contest
- ^ "NY memorial remembers firefighters' sacrifice on 9/11", The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 8, 2006
- ^ foundation.hklaw.com/Projects/MemorialWall/index.asp 9-11 Memorial Wall]
- ^ The BTI Consulting Group (2008)
- ^ The Best Lawyers in America (2008)
- ^ National Law Journal, November 2007
- ^ Minority Law Journal, Summer 2007
- ^ American Lawyer, May 2007
- ^ The Best Lawyers in America (2008)
- ^ Chambers USA 2007
- ^ The Deal, September 2007
- ^ NameProtect Trademark Insider, April 2007
- ^ Euromoney Legal Media Group, 2006
- ^ The Best Lawyers in America (2008)
- ^ Chambers USA 2007
- ^ Influence, March 2007
- ^ The Hill, April 2007
- ^ National Journal, March 2007
- ^ The Hill, February 2006
- ^ The Best Lawyers in America (2008)
- ^ Chambers Global 2008
- ^ Chambers USA 2007
- ^ Worth Magazine, December 2007
- ^ The Best Lawyers in America (2008)
- ^ Chambers USA 2007
- ^ 2007 Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms
- ^ Midwest Real Estate News, May 2006
