Overview

Isabel D. Knott is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office, where she focuses on business and commercial litigation and arbitration. Ms. Knott is experienced in representing clients across a variety of industry sectors, including energy and natural resources, real estate and construction, financial services and emerging technologies. She represents clients in all phases of litigation as well as appellate and alternative dispute resolution advocacy.

Ms. Knott's representative matters include:

Commercial

  • successful defense of jurisdictional challenge to enforcement of guaranty in connection with international sale of business transaction
  • representing a multinational corporation and e‐commerce company in a commercial dispute in federal district court
  • representing a major renewable energy provider in a contractual dispute regarding forward purchases and sales of wholesale electricity
  • second chair in a successful defense of appeal to the New York Court of Appeals regarding a waiver of injunctive relief and public policy defenses to contract
  • lead associate in business and financial services litigation involving breach of contract, securities fraud, tortious interference and other business torts
  • representation of corporate clients in investigations by Australian and U.S. regulators, enforcement agencies and U.S. Department of Justice arising out of alleged breaches of corporations and securities laws, anti-bribery and corruption laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), class action litigation and internal commercial disputes

Real Estate

  • representation of commercial landlords, tenants and lenders in various matters arising out of commercial leases and contracts for the purchase and sale of real property, including successfully applying for Yellowstone and preliminary injunctions
  • representation of financial institutions, lenders, investors and servicers in connection with commercial real estate loans and the exercise of remedies, including commercial litigation, foreclosures and receiverships
  • representation of majority owners in Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act proceedings in a partnership and limited liability companies dispute arising out of a real estate development project
  • advised a member-manager in a negotiated resolution of arbitration of disputed interest conversion/recalculation in connection with an iconic New York City building
  • lead associate in a multiphase arbitration arising out of a major public infrastructure project across Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Knott was an attorney in the New York office of a prominent New York City real estate law firm. Previously, Ms. Knott was a lawyer in the Melbourne and Sydney offices of an international commercial law firm, where her practice focused on federal regulatory disputes, class actions and commercial litigation in the higher courts in Australia and assisting clients involved in international disputes. She also served as a judicial clerk to the President of the Court of Appeals of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

In the community, Ms. Knott contributes her time to pro bono efforts focused on immigration assistance and policy projects. While she was studying at the University of Oxford, Ms. Knott contributed to a pro bono research project "International Refugee Law in Tanzania: International refugee and human rights law in application to refugee policy in Tanzania," published by University of Oxford Faculty of Law. She also has extensive experience navigating Australia's offshore immigration detention system on behalf of newly arrived asylum-seekers.

Credentials

Education
  • Oxford University Faculty of Law, B.C.L.
  • Monash University, B.A./LL.B., first class honors
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • New York
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
Memberships
  • New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), Commercial & Federal Litigation Section, Litigation Academy Committee, Co-Chair, 2021-2022 and 2023-2024; Publications Committee, Deputy Chair, 2019
Honors & Awards
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Ones to Watch, Litigation - Construction, 2024, 2025