Community Commitment

Active-duty military service personnel often face complicated legal issues while they serve our country. We've joined the American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project to help these individuals and their families with a variety of legal needs. As a result of this work, the ABA honored Holland & Knight with its 2018  ABA Military Pro Bono Project Outstanding Services award. Holland & Knight is the only law firm or company to receive the Military Pro Bono Project's annual Outstanding Service Award each year since the award's inception in 2012. We dedicate significant resources to initiatives that benefit military veterans, including supporting the Wounded Warrior Project, providing legal services for the United Way's Mission United Initiative to assist veterans with civilian re-acclimation, and partnering with the ABA's Section of Taxation and the Internal Revenue Service to coordinate a Military Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Learn more about the Holland & Knight Veterans Group pro bono and community service initiatives.

"Each case that is resolved is an important victory for the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country and oftentimes need critical assistance while they are deployed to areas of conflict. Holland & Knight's spirit of volunteerism helps each person resume their important military duties without having to worry about their family and finances back home."

- Mary Meixner, ABA staff attorney and project director or legal services

The nonprofit MyGoodDeed was founded in 2002 to carry forward the remarkable spirit of service that arose after September 11, 2001. The organization was co-founded by Jay Winuk, the brother of Glenn Winuk, a Holland & Knight partner and volunteer firefighter/EMT, who lost his life in the line of duty as a rescuer at the World Trade Center. We serve as general counsel, provide pro bono legal services from corporate governance guidance to transactional and intellectual property strategy, and make financial and operational investments in the 9/11 Day of Service. In 2017, we assisted more than 80 nonprofits and schools and volunteered alongside 28 clients through more than 2,200 service days performed by our employees. Our volunteering ranged from school refurbishment projects and preparing meals for homeless families and veterans to arranging holiday events for sick children in healthcare facilities.

"The special relationship between Holland & Knight and MyGoodDeed is singular, lasting and highly productive. It is a great pleasure to experience the firm's passion and spirit of generosity as it makes a real difference for people and communities in need throughout the nation. We consider Holland & Knight's participation in 0/11 Day a model of commitment and experience in execution for other firms to follow."

Best Buddies International is the world's largest program dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Holland & Knight has supported the organization for more than 20 years by serving as outside general counsel, on its board of directors and for local advisory boards; providing financial support for Best Buddies' awareness events that promote disability rights to a wider audience; and employing individuals through the Best Buddies Jobs program. We applaud Best Buddies' commitment to advocate for the rights of people with IDD as demonstrated by the Buddy Ambassador pictured during a congressional visit.

"Holland & Knight has supported Best Buddies International since our early days setting up headquarters in Miami over 20 years ago. In addition to providing pro bono legal services, serving on our various boards, and participating in our fundraising rides and friendship events, the firm enables people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to find a rewarding job, have great mentors and become champions in their communities.

When Florida mandated Holocaust education in the state’s public schools in the mid-1990s, Holland & Knight assisted in preparing the first curriculum. Since then, we have focused on creating awareness about the Holocaust and genocide, and promoting the lessons learned from extraordinary stories of human courage and compassion. Our attorneys teamed up with Bet Tzedek to help hundreds of Holocaust survivors recover thousands of dollars in reparations from the German government and gain access to pro bono legal services. The firm works with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Lawyers Committee, which provides professional development initiatives to study the legal ramifications of the Holocaust. We also support other organizations that are active in this area of focus, such as Facing History and Ourselves and the Anti-Defamation League.

"The museum is grateful that Holland & Knight shares our commitment to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory and teaching its lessons. These lessons – about the fragility of democracy, the nature of hate and the consequences of indifference – are very relevant in our rapidly changing world. Long-standing and far-reaching efforts by Holland & Knight honor the survivors and inspire young people throughout the country to confront hate, prevent genocide and promote human dignity."

- Sarah Ogilvie, director, National Institute for Holocaust Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Through the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation’s Opening Doors for Children program, the firm’s attorneys and staff help students who are at risk of never realizing their full potential. We partner with schools and nonprofits in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods to provide tutoring, serve as mentors and enhance their curricula. For example, at Charles R. Darwin Elementary School in Chicago, students who are struggling with reading get help from our volunteers during “power lunches” held in the classrooms. Through a Reading Is Fundamental program, they take home a minimum of three books per year to spark their interest in reading. Many of these students also learn about the history of the United States and are introduced to the legal system through a partnership with the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

"Over the last four years, I have witnessed volunteers from Holland & Knight make amazing contributions to students' learning and character building. The volunteers not only teach and read to our students – they are also great role models demonstrating how hard work creates success. They motivate Darwin School students to build the confidence they need to be outstanding individuals."