Holland & Knight LLP is a law firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida with 35 offices, five of them outside the US.[1] Its lobbying practice is among "the biggest players in the lobbying landscape," according to Bloomberg Government.[2] As of 2022, it was the 7th-largest US-based law firm with 1,596 attorneys,[3] expanding to 2,174 attorneys as of 2025.[4]
Former judge and later US Senator Spessard Holland opened a law practice in 1929 as Holland & Bevis.[5]Peter O. Knight, who established his law practice in Tampa in 1889,[6] tried his first case at age 18 and later refused an offer from the Harding administration to be considered for the US Supreme Court.[7] Their namesake firms merged in 1968 to form Holland & Knight.[5]
In 1997 the firm acquired Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens, making them the 12th-largest law firm in the United States at the time with around 600 attorneys.[8] That number had grown to 840 by 1998 following subsequent acquisitions.[9] Holland & Knight merged with the Dallas-based, 275-attorney Thompson & Knight in 2021, retaining the name Holland & Knight.[10] During the first quarter of 2023, Holland & Knight merged with Nashville-based Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis, resulting in a headcount of almost 2,000 attorneys.[11]
Lobbying and political contributions
Individuals pre-Holland & Knight
In 1956, future Holland & Knight founder Spessard Holland joined eighteen other senators in signing the Southern Manifesto, proclaiming court-ordered school desegregation to be an "unwarranted … abuse of judicial power" and declaring their intention to "resist forced integration by any lawful means."[12]
Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight is a registered lobbyist. Its Public Policy & Regulation Group[13] is the third largest lobbying practice in the United States by revenue.[14] Its members have included former US representative Tillie Fowler and former Florida State Senator Curtis Kaiser.[15] Its PAC, Holland & Knight Committee For Effective Government, contributed over $500,000 to Federal Candidates for the Reporting Period 2023-2024.[16] Its work and contributions at the Florida state level are similarly significant.[15]
In 1994, the firm filed a suit on behalf of victims of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre, in which an all-black town was burned and then razed by a white mob, with the deaths of anywhere from 6 to 150 black people. When the suit was dismissed, a team at the firm, led by Martha Barnett, successfully lobbied Florida legislature to appropriate $1.5 million in compensation for the survivors and the descendents of the victims.[17]
In 2002, the firm sought a change in Florida law to ease restrictions on payday lenders. Florida PIRG Director Mark Ferrulo expressed shock that the firm "would represent legalized loan sharks that prey on the most vulnerable populations in Florida."[18]
Diversity equity and inclusion
As late as July, 2024 the firm was proud of its diversity equity and inclusion programs, with its new "diversity partner" giving an interview to the publication Law360[19] and an executive with the publication Bloomberg Law declaring that their "commitment to DEI not only sets them apart, but also propels the entire legal field forward."[20] Following the Trump administration's attacks on other Biglaw firms citing their DEI programs, Holland removed all mention of DEI from its website.[21] It is not known whether their program still exists.
Charitable work
Attorney Stephen Hanlon established the pro bono practice at Holland & Knight and served as project director for multiple state studies documenting excessive workloads for public defenders. His work has led to legislative reforms, court decisions, and national standards for indigent defense. Some pro bono cases include a joint case with the ACLU for death row inmates experiencing unconstitutional conditions of confinement in Mississippi.[22]
In 1996 Gregg Thomas and Hanlon brought the case to the law firms attention after hearing that the "key witness against him recanted his testimony." the Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano death penalty case who had been convicted in a 1976 killing based on eye-witness testimony.[23]
Charitable giving is managed and coordinated by the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation,[24] 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[25] national essay contest, Young Native Writers Essay Contest[26] 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.[27]
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.[28]
More than 130 Holland & Knight attorneys were named in the Chambers USA 2013 guide.[29]
Corporate Counsel magazine named Holland & Knight a "2012 Go-To Law Firm" for the top 500 U.S. companies.[30]
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.[31]
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.[32]
Directors & Boards magazine ranked Holland & Knight the nation's top law firm for dealing with director liability issues.[33]
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.[34]
Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers named Holland & Knight one of 50 "2012 Best Law Firms for Women".[35]
The firm earned Gold Standard Certification from The Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) p.[36]
The firm ranked third in The American Lawyer magazine's 2012 Diversity Scorecard for the number of Hispanic attorneys.[37]
The firm was awarded the "Michael K. Reese Quality of Life Award" by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division.[38]
↑ MORGAN, LUCY (9 April 1994). "Lawyers feel thrill of righting a wrong". Tampa Bay Times. Against all odds, lawyers Martha Barnett and Steve Hanlon won an unusual victory … Barnett, an experienced lobbyist, thought there was no chance of winning damages for the survivors of the 1923 Rosewood massacre.
↑ Arnold, Madison (27 June 2024). "New Holland & Knight Diversity Atty Hopes To 'Reimagine' DEI". Law360. Retrieved 24 July 2025. Holland & Knight LLP's new diversity partner, O'Kelly E. McWilliams III, never sought out opportunities to serve in the diversity, equity and inclusion space
↑ Vielmetti, Bruce (January 15, 1996). "Definitely not your average pro bono case". Tampa Bay Times. p.43. Retrieved 12 April 2025. Gregg Thomas and Stephen Hanlon used E-mail to float the idea of helping Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano around to their far-flung partners for a 10-day period of comment
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