Instead of putting too many eggs into the SPAC or venture capital baskets, Holland & Knight’s corporate team in recent years focused on geographies and sectors that might give them returns, especially within the middle market. In a year when some firms struggled to find the large cap deals necessary to keep their transactional attorneys busy, that strategy seems to have worked.

Shortly after merging with energy-heavy Thompson & Knight in 2021, and concurrently with its early 2023 combination with health care-focused Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, the Am Law 100 firm put those fresh pieces to work. Despite a general slowdown of transactional work last year, Holland & Knight was able to tap into deals within both sectors, in part thanks to the firm’s new capabilities following the mergers, co-lead of the firm’s corporate M&A practice David Barkus said.