# Holland & Knight

Holland & Knight LLP is a multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 attorneys and professional staff worldwide. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm has a number of different practices areas, including litigation, corporate law, real estate, construction law, and intellectual property.

## History

Holland & Knight was formed in 1968 after the merger of the firms established by Spessard Holland and Peter O. Knight. Chesterfield Smith was the managing partner of the new venture until 1983.
In 1997 the firm acquired Haight Gardner Poor & Haven, making them the 12th largest law firm at the time with 600 attorneys. That number had grown to 840 by 1998 following subsequent acquisitions. Holland & Knight merged with the Dallas-based, 275-attorney Thompson & Knight in 2021, retaining the name Holland & Knight. By 2022 it had become the 7th-largest US-based law firm with 1,596 attorneys.

## Political involvement

According to OpenSecrets, 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 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.

## Charitable work

Holland & Knight occasionally takes on pro-bono work, including a joint case with the ACLU for death row inmates experiencing unconstitutional conditions of confinement in Mississippi.
Charitable giving is managed and coordinated by the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, 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.

## Awards and achievements

* 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 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.
* Working Mother 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.