"The Community Services Team at Holland & Knight brings a unique and powerful force to bear on issues affecting traditionally unrepresented and under-represented individuals. It has the financial ability and legal acumen to prosecute complex cases pro bono publico in the public interest without charge to its clients. The cases it addresses generally and this case in particular present unique issues that few private lawyers have the resources to address."
Concerned Parents of Jordan Park v. St. Petersburg Housing Authority
934 F. Supp. 406 (M.D. Fla. 1996).
The Community Services Team
Holland & Knight established its Community Services Team (CST) in 1990 to more effectively marshal our resources to provide legal representation to those who cannot afford it. The CST is a structured, institutionalized department within the firm, drawing on all of the firm's resources and staffed by full-time lawyers with extensive knowledge and experience in their fields of practice.
The team is led by its founder, partner Steve Hanlon, from our Washington, D.C. office. Steve has a long history of successful civil rights litigation and advocacy for poor people.
George H. Kendall, one of the most prominent civil rights lawyers in the United States, is Senior Pro Bono Counsel in our New York office.
Christopher Nugent, one of the nation's preeminent immigration lawyers, is Senior Pro Bono Counsel based in Washington, D.C.
Sharon Y. Eubanks, a 27-year career-attorney at the Department of Justice, is Senior Pro Bono counsel based in Washington, D.C.
George E. “Buddy” Schulz, Jr., the CST Chief Trial Counsel in Jacksonville, was formerly chair of the firm’s Litigation Department and is one of the firm’s most experienced trial lawyers. He is a former Chesterfield Smith Partner Award winner, as is Steve Hanlon.
Dewanna D. Planter, the CST Administrator, is responsible for the administrative, communications and technical responsibilities essential to the firm's effective commitment to pro bono legal services.
The firm has seven Chesterfield Smith Fellows, four of whom have completed two years in the CST primarily doing pro bono work and are now leading our pro bono efforts in their offices while working as Associates in the Litigation Section of the firm. The other three are primarily doing pro bono work in the CST. They also work on selected cases for our paying clients.
Finally, the CST has two paralegals, Elisabeth Lee and Wendy François, who assist in providing quality representation to our pro bono clients. Elisabeth is based in our Washington, D.C., office working with Christopher Nugent primarily on immigration law and policy. Wendy is based in our New York office working with George Kendall primarily on death penalty litigation, prison litigation, indigent defense and felon voter disenfranchisement cases.