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Six Holland & Knight Partners Quit to Launch Boutique Firm
Daily Business Review
August 10, 2007
Holland & Knight suffered its first large partner exodus in several years when six of its top Miami attorneys announced Tuesday that they were leaving to start their own firm.
The new Coral Gables, Fla., firm, to be known as Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri, includes the former head of Holland & Knight's banking and finance group, Alcides I. Avila.
Other partners leaving are Wilfredo Rodriguez, former chair of the firm's international litigation and arbitration practice; Eugenio Hernandez, former head of the firm's national immigration practice group and a past president of the Cuban American Bar Association; international banking attorney Patricia Hernandez; litigator Daniel Mena; and finance attorney Marco Ferri.
One Holland associate, Asnardo Garro Jr., is joining the new firm.
"We believe that there's a strong market for a small boutique firm that can provide personalized services," Avila said. "We're going to have a lot more flexibility in the type of cases we can handle. In my personal situation, it was my dream to start my own practice. It's something I wanted to do as long as I can remember."
Attorneys from both sides described it as an amicable parting.
"The folks that are leaving are not simply our colleagues but our friends," said Peter Prieto, executive partner for Holland & Knight's Miami office. "They've determined that a smaller firm, a boutique firm, is going to give them the flexibility they want. They want to realize a dream, and we wish them all the best."
Although gracious in their praise of their former partners, Holland & Knight lawyers were quick to contend that the loss of six key partners -- and their extensive books of business -- would not affect their business.
"In terms of impact to the office, I don't see it as much of an impact," Prieto said. "We still have other lawyers who have the expertise that these lawyers have, both in financial services and litigation."
Past clients the partners have represented include Ocean Bank, Commerce Bank, Spanish-based bank Caja Madrid, Marriott International, Sony and MasterCard.
The outgoing attorneys met with a handful of Holland & Knight partners late last week to inform them of their move, which will take them from Holland's Brickell Avenue office to a location on Ponce de Leon Boulevard.
Over the weekend, Holland & Knight informed partner Jose E. Sirven that he would be replacing Avila as the head of the banking and finance group, a post he held from 1993 to 1997.
With more than 1,000 attorneys nationwide and 198 equity partners, Holland & Knight is one of Florida's largest law firms and brings in $605,000 per lawyer in revenue, placing it 27th in the Am Law 100, according to a recent survey by The American Lawyer, an affiliate of the Daily Business Review. Among other South Florida firms, it ranked seventh in revenue per lawyer, sixth in profit per equity partner, seventh in compensation per partner and eighth in profit margin. It placed third in gross revenue, grossing almost $95 million in 2006, according to the most recent Review 15 survey compiled by the Daily Business Review.
This represents the biggest departure of partners from the firm since Holland & Knight experienced financial problems several years ago.
Five years ago, the Daily Business Review reported that Holland & Knight was in turmoil after unfettered expansion under the reign of former managing partner Bill McBride, who waged an unsuccessful campaign to unseat then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
The firm downsized, cut back on expenses and reconsidered its extensive pro bono work. In some instances partners were on the verge of revolt after being compensated less than incoming associates, and equity partners took pay cuts. Sirven said the problems that existed in 2002 have largely been corrected.
"In the last four years, we've made a significant change, and our partner-to-associate ratio, especially the equity partner, is very different," he said. "I don't think money was the driving force for [the six partners leaving] at all. I don't think that is a huge issue at the firm right now."
Holland & Knight placed 84th in profits per partner -- $700,000 per attorney -- in the most recent Am Law 100 survey.Of the departures, Sirven said, "Change like this is unfortunately par for the course at a large law firm when you get to a certain size."
