Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. Headquartered in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, the firm provides representation in litigation, business,

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

construction law Construction law is a branch of law that deals with matters relating to building construction, engineering, and related fields. It is in essence an amalgam of contract law, commercial law, planning law, employment law and tort. Construction law c ...

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

and governmental law. It is one of the largest law firms in the world by revenue and attorney count. Holland & Knight specializes in representing major Fortune 50 companies and corporations globally.

Office locations

Holland & Knight has offices in the

, Colombia,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

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History

Predecessor firms

The Knight firm was founded in 1889 in

. The Holland firm was established in 1919 in Polk County, Florida. In 1968, the two merged to form Holland & Knight.

Major Principals

Spessard Holland Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 28th Governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and later as a US senator for Florida from 1946 to 1971. He would be the first pers ...

received a law degree from the University of Florida Law School in 1916; in addition to his work as a lawyer, he was

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(1941–1945) and U.S. Senator from Florida (1946–1971). He practiced law until his death in November 1971. Peter O. Knight graduated from Valparaiso University Law School in 1884 In addition to his work as a lawyer, he served in the Florida Legislature and founded both

TECO Energy TECO Energy Inc. is an energy-related holding company based in Tampa, Florida, and a subsidiary of Emera Incorporated. TECO Energy has several subsidiaries: Tampa Electric Company, which provides electricity to the Tampa Bay Area and parts of C ...

and a major bank. He died in 1946.

Chesterfield Smith Chesterfield Harvey Smith (July 28, 1917 – July 16, 2003) was an American lawyer. He co-founded the law firm Holland & Knight and served as president of the American Bar Association in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal. Early life an ...

was managing partner of the combined firm until 1983. He was president of The

Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated bar association for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States. Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys. The Florida Bar is also responsible for the governi ...

in 1964-65 and president of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

(ABA) in 1973-74. He served as Chairman of the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission.

Selected moments

* 1889 Peter O. Knight established his practice * 1919 Senator Spessard Holland established his practice * 1968 Two Florida practices merge to create Holland & Knight LLP * 1973-74 The late

, Chairman Emeritus, served as ABA President * 1982 Opened first office outside of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in Washington, D.C. * 1994 Established presence in

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

* 1997 Entered New York and San Francisco markets by acquiring Haight Gardner Poor & Havens * 1998 Joint venture with a Mexico City law firm and established Boston office * 2000 Opened Midwest office in Chicago and second West Coast office in Los Angeles * 2001 Pacific Northwest presence with an office in Portland, OR * 2004 Expanded overseas into Beijing, China * 2012 Opened office in Bogota, Colombia * 2013 Opened office in Dallas, Texas * 2014 Opened office in Austin, TX * 2015 Opened office in Houston, TX * 2016 Opened office in Stamford, CT * 2016 Opened office in London, England * 2018 Opened office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * 2021 Opened office in Orange County, California

Community commitment

Political contributions

According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

, Holland & Knight was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.19 million, 59% to Democrats. By comparison, during that same period

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Washington, DC. It is the largest lobbying firm in the United States by revenue. Akin Gump has consistently been ranked as among the top law firms in the Un ...

donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats, while oil conglomerate ExxonMobil donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans. Since 1990, Holland & Knight has contributed $10.47 million to federal campaigns, and spent over $1 million on lobbying since 2001.

Pro bono work

Holland & Knight is known for representing people with legal problems who otherwise would have been denied access to the legal system. Some of their pro bono clients have included: *

Wilbert Rideau Wilbert Rideau (born February 13, 1942) is an American convicted killer and former death row inmate from Lake Charles, Louisiana, who became an author and award-winning journalist while held for 44 years at Angola Prison. Rideau was convicted i ...

, a prisoner who spent 44 years in jail until he was freed through a jury verdict * Haitian victims of torture, arbitrary detention,

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

, 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 Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class. On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist ...

in Iraq * African-American survivors of

Rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...

, a town destroyed in 1923 by white neighbors * Prisoners with HIV/AIDS in Alabama facing life-threatening conditions and treatment * Death row inmates experiencing deplorable conditions of confinement in Mississippi

Charitable work

Charitable giving is managed and coordinated by the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation
GuideStar Profile
, which was established as a 501(c)(3) public charity in 1996. The foundation underwrites several programs that support education, including the Opening Doors for Children reading program, the Holocaust Remembrance Project national essay contest, Young Native Writers Essay Contest for Native American high school students, and the Dream Scholarship Essay Contest designed to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prior winners of the Young Native Writers Essay Contest were featured in

Indian Country Today ''ICT News'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a daily digital news platform that covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and First Nations. It was founded in 1981 as a weekly print newspaper, ''The ...

Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom

The Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom at the

University of Florida Levin College of Law The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida, and second oldest overall ...

was dedicated on Sept. 21, 2006, by a distinguished group of friends and colleagues of the legendary

: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...

, UF President Bernie Machen, Levin College of Law Dean Robert Jerry, then Holland & Knight Managing Partner Howell W. Melton Jr., and Holland & Knight partner and then chair of the firm's Directors Committee

Martha Barnett Martha Walters Barnett (born June 1, 1947) is an American attorney who served as the President of the American Bar Association from 2000 to 2001. She is now a partner at the Holland & Knight law firm. Education Barnett earned her bachelor's de ...

. Smith graduated from the law school in 1948.

Diversity

Working Mother ''Working Mother'' was a magazine for working mothers launched in 1979 by Founding Publisher Milton Lieberman, who was succeeded by Carol Evans . The founding editor of the magazine was Vivian Cadden, who retired as editor in 1990. Subsequent edi ...

magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers named Holland & Knight one of 50 "2012 Best Law Firms for Women". * The firm earned Gold Standard Certification from The Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) p. * The firm ranked third in ''The American Lawyer'' magazine's 2012 Diversity Scorecard for the number of Hispanic attorneys. * The firm was awarded the "Michael K. Reese Quality of Life Award" by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division.

Industry awards

* The firm received national first-tier rankings in the 2013 U.S. News – Best Lawyers ''Best Law Firms'' guide in 22 practice areas. * More than 130 Holland & Knight attorneys were named in the ''Chambers USA'' 2013 guide. * ''Corporate Counsel'' magazine named Holland & Knight a "2012 Go-To Law Firm" for the top 500 U.S. companies. * Holland & Knight ranks among the top-performing law firms that provide superior client service, according to 2013 BTI Consulting Group's annual survey of corporate counsel and C-level executives. * Holland & Knight was named ''one of the world's top

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

law firms'' in the ''World Trademark Review 1000 – The Definitive Guide to Trademark Legal Services''. * ''Directors & Boards'' magazine ranked Holland & Knight the nation's top law firm for dealing with director liability issues. * The firm was named the Law Firm of the Year in the Washington, D.C., area by the Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors three times in the past five years. * Former Congressman Gerry Sikorski, Richard Gold, and Kathryn Hazeem Lehman were recognized by '' The Hill'' as Washington, D.C.'s Top Lobbyists.

References

External links

*
Chambers and Partners Firm Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland and Knight Law firms established in 1968 Law firms based in Florida 1968 establishments in Florida