associate

paralegal

paralegal assistant

staff attorney

event coordinator

Holland & Knight

Typical work day includes being yelled at and thrown under the bus by the partners; no team environment; the office sells itself as a collegial work environment but the partners create a competitive environment. esp. with one another (hardly ever go on joint pitches or cross-sell different groups)--basically silo effect where each partner acts as the master of his/her fiefdom; partners get upset when associates have work to do for other partners and do not like hearing that associates are overloaded or busy with other matters; work-life balance is not respected; associates are expected to give everything up for work, including scheduling necessary surgery, doctor appointments, family emergencies, etc.; one associate was asked to come in and close a deal a day after the death of his child.  That says it all.

Staff equally unhappy; attorneys who treat staff (and other lower ranking attorneys) badly have been allowed to progress to partner level with no negative repercussions, which speaks volumes as to the culture.

The most important thing is the bottom line and respect for the employees at all levels is non-existent.

Practice Areas: Holland & Knight's New York office primarily focuses on areas such as mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, securities, product liability, labor, and white-collar law. This means you might engage in work related to these fields, depending on your role and specialization[1].

Culture: Employee reviews suggest that the company has a culture that is rated positively, with scores around 3.8 out of 5 for culture and values. A positive workplace culture can contribute to a pleasant working environment[3].

Work-Life Balance: Work-life balance is rated around 3.2 out of 5, indicating that the company strives to provide a balance between work and personal life for its employees[3].

Career Opportunities: Career opportunities are rated at around 3.3 out of 5. This suggests that the company may provide opportunities for growth and career development[3].

Professional Staff: Holland & Knight offers competitive salaries and benefits packages, fostering an environment based on mutual respect and commitment to serving clients[5].

Diversity and Inclusion: The firm emphasizes attracting, retaining, and promoting diverse professionals and fostering an inclusive work environment, which can contribute to a diverse and inclusive workplace[6].

A typical day started with checking calendars and making sure all arrangements had previously been made for depositions, court appearances, etc. I prepared litigation documents and made edits to documents prepared by attorneys during the day. I also made travel arrangements, entered attorneys' time, submitted expense reports, and opened new files.

I learned how to efile, all the new Word updates, and several different time entry and expense report programs.

Management was very helpful in supporting the secretaries by making sure there was someone available to support my attorneys if I was on vacation or needed to be out for personal reasons, such as doctors' appointments. There was always an open ear.

The other litigation secretaries were always willing to help out, particularly at the end of the day when it was time to submit efilings, mailings, etc. when documents had been finalized.

The hardest part of the job was supporting multiple attorneys when they were all very busy.

I enjoyed the comradeship between the staff and attorneys.

First, in my dept it took me 3 months to start really training, even then I wasn't fully trained for another 6 months. There is no formal training at all. 
Second, even when you work to do all you can and do your best your consistently discouraged for not doing better. In my position my work relies on other people to submit their information to me. At one point I had contacted them to get their stuff to me and done all I could and so did the rest of the people in my department yet an email was sent throughout our department that we were "pathetic" by our manager. 
Next, there is little, if any, opportunity to transfer departments. I had a chance for a promotion and I went to talk to my manager about it she told me that she told HR to take employees from a different department because she didn't want anyone to leave. This shows how discouraging management can be at Holland and Knight. 
Also, there is often OT that is mandatory, even though it's not necessary. Often, I feel like they believe our only thing in life to do is work and don't have any respect for our personal lives.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people were extremely nice. The environment was welcoming and warm.  I truly enjoyed going into the office each day during the time I was working there. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I never truly experienced any stress at that job. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
They were unlike the typical law firm. They weren't at all stuffy or pretentious like I'd expected when I first started working there. The employees and even the management were all friendly and approachable. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It's been about ten years since then so I don't remember much about the routine. I remember answering phones, greeting clients, ordering catering for meetings and preparing conference rooms.  The details are faded beyond that though.

Working for this company was an experience I had never tried.  Corporate America.    It was huge and you were pretty much a number until you could show your value.  The benefit package was amazing.   I was laid off in a second tier of layoffs and at that time would have liked to have stayed but in the long run I found I prefer working for solo attorneys.  So things work out!  

A typical day was working in your office with whatever project you were working on.   I had the best team of paralegals training me and learned much.   The hardest part of the job was the separation of staff.   I think whether your an attorney, paralegal or support staff we all have vital roles and should feel comfortable approaching whomever we need to ensure we do the best job. The most enjoyable was learning from some of the best.

As a junior associate, you will have access to sophisticated clients and their work early on, but firm management and policies, including those on compensation are notoriously opaque.  I wish the firm would be more transparent about their policies on hours, pro-bono etc. For my first review I was surprised, given the firm's outward facing commitment to pro-bono, that I was discouraged from doing work on these clients until I met my hours. For this reason, I was denied a bonus and a market raise, which was disappointing.  Some attorneys are good mentors but others are cut-throat: very much a luck of the draw kind of place where you need to have a strong independent work mentality to get by.

The company is not the worst place I have worked. The environment leaves much to be desired, from the open floor plan which leaves any sense of privacy at the door, to the lack of any type of fitness/health center. The management is not decisive and many are not knowledgeable enough to understand some of the simple IT processes. The communication has to be the most lacking throughout the department, both laterally between colleagues and vertically to/from supervisors. The technology is very adequate to support the jobs we do. The benefits (4 weeks PTO/yr and holidays) are very nice and they are very understanding towards the employees with children or other outside of work obligations. The on-site cafe is a nice touch.

Management is extremely unorganized and doesnt actually grasp what is going on. I worked in Information Governance as an analyst, the organization and production was laughable. Nothing got done and management is blind to lazy employees that literally do nothing. IG will continue to suffer under current leadership. Also the senior analyst has got to go. He is away for hours at a time, and his production is very low, he doesnt provide any support for the team, and the fact he has been the senior analyst in the time period 3 employees quit is no coincidence. H&K should be extremely embarrassed. 

Holland & Knight was definitely a great law firm to work at.   Even though H&K was quite a large firm, we got to know each other so well that we felt almost like family.

As we worked hard for our clients; we also had great times during the fun occasions such as staff meetings, staff appreciation lunches, Pic-Nics, Christmas celebrations were the best etc.

The benefits at H&K were great, and not to mention the job culture of the company that was also great.

I worked at H&K for almost 18 years and was laid off, but even so, I could never have resentment towards the firm as they were part of a great time in my life.

I will always remember the firm as well as the employees of such a prestigious Firm.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Associate 3 salaries reported	$346,667 per year
Paralegal 5 salaries reported	$74,500 per year
Paralegal assistant 3 salaries reported	$43,333 per year
Staff attorney 1 salary reported	$66,042 per year
Event coordinator 1 salary reported	$74,500 per year

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