The Work  

In its native Florida, Chambers USA ranks the firm in the top half of the market for areas like banking & finance, antitrust and real estate. Nationally, Chambers USA recognizes its environment, transportation, government and construction practices.

New juniors either join the litigation, business, government or real estate sections. In 2011 litigation took on around half of new starters, corporate around a quarter, and government and real estate around an eighth each. Litigation’s growing right now, while real estate has shrunk.

Work differs a great deal from city to city. For example, Boston has a lot of tax syndication work, New York’s big on transport while DC does lots of legislative work and lobbying. Go to our website to read more about what lawyers do in each city.

Associates get work “based on building informal relations” rather than via a formal assignment system. In some Florida offices, practice group leaders “monitor associates’ workload” and associates in that state often “work with the same three or four people all the time.” Elsewhere there’s more of a “wild west” system and “it’s feast or famine, which can be stressful.” One source advised: “You do need to be a go-getter who’s willing to work hard to get your hours.” First-years are placed on specific teams within departments, but “aren’t siloed in terms of work.”

Holland & Knight has mid-sized offices and small practice group teams, and is “partner heavy” (six out of every ten attorneys is a partner). All this means “you get higher exposure early on.” A second-year admitted: “I still do grunt work, but also a lot of research, editing memos, writing briefs, and there’s been some client contact.” A third-year added: “Last time I was given work, I wasn’t just told to do due diligence and report back – I ran the project.”

Some associates “do a good amount of work with other offices,” while others said they “occasionally contact other offices, but not much.” When practices are spread over more than one office there are “meetings once a month where we get together via videoconference.”

Training & Development  

Formal training is organized by department. “They produce a lecture on a different topic every month or two. It’s held via videoconference and all offices participate,” one associate explained. Sessions include “writing training, basic discovery issues,” and “how to advise clients on processing documents.”

Associates were divided about how forthcoming informal feedback is. “It depends on the partner. Some are very hands-off and incredibly busy so they don’t spend a lot of time helping you with your work,” one said. However, associates appreciate the support they get through a formal mentoring system. “You’re assigned an associate and partner mentor when you arrive,” said one junior. “I’m able to go to them with questions. The support I get from partners I work with has been key.”

Mentors are also important in the review process. The new compensation system means reviews have become more detailed. “They’ve moved to a much broader subjective review system. I was evaluated in ten different categories on a one to nine scale.”

Offices  

Over 300 of Holland & Knight’s attorneys work in Florida. Miami’s the largest office here. “It’s on Brickell Avenue in the financial district,” a junior reported. “In terms of decor we have quite a traditional law firm look.” In Tampa attorneys are in “the nicest building downtown – the lobby is at the top of the building and has floor-to-ceiling windows.” The Orlando offices are “in the tallest building in town and we have the top floors.” A source in Jacksonville said: “We have the St Johns River on three sides of the building and amazing views. On a clear day I can see the condos by the ocean.”

Washington, DC is the firm’s largest office in terms of headcount, with over 150 attorneys. “We have local pictures of DC, art on the wall and a nice gym downstairs.” Boston’s the next largest outpost. “We’re in the Back Bay area which has more restaurants and nightlife. We also have a roof terrace with a putting green.” New York’s 100 attorneys recently moved from lower Manhattan to midtown. “The move has been a huge elevator for the firm’s reputation,” a New Yorker said. “We have a cafeteria and every day a large group of associates has lunch there.” Chicago also has around 100 lawyers. “We're in the middle of The Loop. From my window I can see Lake Michigan and Soldier Field stadium.”

In Los Angeles, attorneys moved locations in spring 2011, but remained in the downtown area. The San Francisco office is downtown, three blocks from the Ferry Building and The Embarcadero.

Culture  

“There’s a culture specific to the office, depending on the city. There isn’t much overlap,” associates agreed. What is common to all the offices is that “morale was affected a lot by the layoffs, but morale has gone up in the last year.” In 2009 the firm had announced 70 attorney and 173 staff layoffs.

Associates liked that Holland & Knight has “all the resources of a BigLaw firm, with a small firm feel.” A source outside Florida described Miami attorneys as “party animals.” A Miami associate commented: “It’s unusual how well we all get along. I socialize regularly with the one partner I work with. Social events are usually informal: just a group of us that hang out and like each other.”

Other Florida offices are “family-oriented” and socializing is based more around “lunches rather than evenings out.” Boston is the most sociable and informal office, juniors here felt. “It’s fairly laid back. We often have a jeans day for charity.” New York associates “work longer hours and the culture comes from that. It’s a high-pressure and high-paced environment and there are high expectations.” Chicago has a similar feel to the Big Apple. “It’s definitely busy here, but we do talk about things other than work.”

In Washington DC there “isn’t much interaction between the floors. The younger associates do a happy hour once or twice.” Would any of the partners pull on a Santa suit at Christmas? “That wouldn’t happen. It’s pretty relaxed here, but not that relaxed.” One West Coast source noted how California is “more casual” than the other offices. Sources agreed they “don’t feel a great deal of connection to the Florida offices." To remedy this, the firm holds an all-attorney meeting in a hotel every two years.

Hours & Compensation  

“I get in at 8am – my day could end at 7pm, it could end at 9pm,” a junior said. “I probably stay late about ten days a month. The latest I have ever been here is midnight.” Associates agreed that their hours are “flexible” but early starts are common, especially in Florida.

There is a 1,900 hours billing target and although one associate said “it’s not set in stone,” others said “it is an issue” if you don’t make your hours. Most associates were able to reach the target. Some didn’t because their practice area was low on work.

In early 2010 the firm introduced a hybrid lockstep/merit compensation system. There are also discretionary bonuses. “But there is no structure which says you get a bonus if you do this and that.” As an extra perk every associate was given a free iPad at the start of 2011. Interviewees denied rumors that these were sent out in lieu of bonuses. “I think it was a friendly gift – a nice equalizer and good for morale.”

Pro Bono  

Up to 100 hours of pro bono can be counted towards billing targets – more with the firm’s permission. Some associates do indeed do more than 100 hours and the firm “encourages you to do 50 hours a year.” There are family law, adoption, prisoners’ rights and immigration cases. Litigators do more pro bono than those with a transactional practice.

The Chesterfield Smith Fellowship Program allows juniors and mid-levels who have worked at the firm for at least 12 months to spend a year doing solely pro bono, receiving a normal salary and benefits. There are a limited number of places each year; two joined the program in 2011.

Diversity  

“The firm has a strong diversity initiative with room for improvement,” one junior said. “It definitely does focus on it and tries to give offers to diverse candidates – I saw that when I was involved in hiring.” For example, in Chicago the firm “made a push to bring in female partners.” The Chicago office’s executive partner, Vic Henderson, is African American, as are the executive partners of the Boston and Miami offices.

All the major offices have active diversity committees and women’s initiatives. In Boston the diversity committee organized “a presentation on a new book about the civil rights movement during Black History Month.” In DC “the women’s initiative meets monthly and there is always a theme – once several female partners gave a lecture on marketing.”

Washington DC, Miami, Jacksonville and Atlanta are particularly diverse in terms of ethnic minorities. Boston and Chicago do less well on this front, but like in New York, women are notably well represented in these offices.

Get Hired  

Holland & Knight recruited 39 summers in 2011, up from 26 in 2010 but down from 69 in 2008. “We will be bigger in 2011 and 2012 than 2010, but I’m not sure we will go back up to 2008 levels immediately,” professional growth and development partner Deborah Barnard tells us. There are summer programs in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Washington DC, Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Northern Virginia, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Portland. “Recruitment doesn’t happen office by office.” Barnard says: “We don’t organize ourselves purely on a geographic basis, but on a practice area and industry basis against the backdrop of geography.”

“To succeed as a practicing lawyer you can’t just be book smart,” she continues. “Book smarts may be sufficient to succeed as a young associate, but you need more if you want to develop beyond that. We look at what else people are involved in: moot courts, law journals. If someone has journal experience, we might ask them how their colleagues would describe them.”

The summer program “can be different depending on the needs of individual locations, but we offer firmwide substantive training to all summer associates that cuts across practices and offices.” All offices take fewer than ten summers. “I was partly attracted here by the small size of the summer program,” a Boston associate said. “There’s no busy work or work just to fill your time. It was a good introduction to what life would be like as an associate.”

Strategy & Future  

“2010 has been a positive year financially,” managing partner Steven Sonberg tells us. “Our strength in several core areas and industries is something we have emphasized to our current and potential clients. Transportation, healthcare, IP and white-collar crime are all areas of strong focus.”

In 2010 the firm hired business adviser Friedrich Blass as a permanent in-house consultant. “We have been looking at areas of growth and how we can be creative. Externally we are looking at alternative fee structures and how we can control legal costs for our clients,” Sonberg says.

Fewer than 30 attorneys work abroad, but Sonberg highlights the importance of the firm’s presence in “three extremely important international regions.” Holland & Knight has been present in Mexico City since 1998, in Beijing since 2004 and in Abu Dhabi since 2008.

Expansion and consolidation in the US is the main focus at present. “I see 2011 as a year of opportunity in which we need to pursue some aggressive growth initiatives,” Sonberg concludes. “Technology, outsourcing and geographic opportunities will continue to change our work over the next few years.”