by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
In the early days, “Tampa-based” was usually the prefix that ran with any description of Holland & Knight.
These days, the firm’s headquarters is probably wherever the managing partner is. And, based on Howell Melton’s itinerary, that could be just about anywhere between Bartow and Brazil.
For example:
He spent a week in each of the firm’s West Coast offices, beginning just after the Fourth of July. He spent a month, starting the end of August, visiting offices in Florida. Next will be visits to offices in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.
It’s a good thing he doesn’t mind piling up the frequent-flier miles.
“I enjoy doing what I’m doing,” said Melton, who began his five-year term as managing partner April 1. “Some days I enjoy it more than others.
“When I visit the offices, our partners, and particularly the associates and the staff who I don’t know, are very welcoming.
“In visiting some of the offices that are newer to the firm, I hear some positive things. They believe there is something unique about our culture, something that’s different from what they’ve experienced before.”
Melton, son of federal judge Howell Melton, has worked out of Holland & Knight’s Lakeland, Tampa and Sarasota offices. From 1989 to this January, he was the executive partner of the firm’s Orlando office. That’s when he moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. Just in time for one of the worst blizzards the city’s ever had.
“The city shut down for two days,” Melton said. There were no cabs or buses or cars on the streets, so it was very quiet.
“It was almost eerie to be out and about.”
As the managing partner, Melton oversees 1,200 attorneys and the operations of 26 domestic and five international offices. He is only the second elected managing partner at the firm. The first was Bill McBride, who left the firm in June 2001 to run for governor.
In his campaign, Melton ran against George D. Gabel Jr., executive partner in the Jacksonville office.
The firm is probably in the minority of those who choose to hold a popular election for its managing partner, Melton said. Size of the firm and distraction from work are two main reasons why boards often elect the head officer. The campaigners themselves are often “off the clock” as they try to visit every office.
When he and McBride ran for office, “We hoped to not make it a political process and to keep the time and distraction at a minimum,” said Melton. “Particularly since I think the reality is this is something our partners wanted a voice in.”
There was also concern that a national campaign would create a division between the Florida offices and those outside the state, which now has the greatest number of partners.
“But that didn’t develop,” said Melton. “I think one of the reasons I was successful is, since the early 1990s, my practice has developed as a national practice. Although I was based in Orlando, my primary client responsibility was for clients headquartered in California, Chicago, New York and Connecticut. So I regularly traveled in those markets.
“I think I was well known on a personal level to at least a portion of the lawyers in those offices.”
Although the last election held disruption to a minimum, Melton said, there’s no guarantee the process won’t be revised the next time around.
“One of the things we need to do, I guess, is look at whether there’ll be another election in five years or a different process,” he said. “I think what the partners were doing was looking at the first election — when there were five candidates and just over 100 partners in the firm — and looking at what that involved.
“Now they’re saying, ‘We have 1,200 lawyers. How many candidates will that be?’ ”
However the next managing partner is chosen, that leader is responsible for maintaining the tone that distinguishes the company, Melton said. That tone was inspired by the work of the late Chesterfield Smith, who engineered a merger in 1968 that created the firm.
“Dedication to the community is clearly something we value,” he said. “Holland & Knight has core values that encourage our lawyers and staff to give of the monies and their time to the community.
“We devote time to Opening Doors to Children, and we treat work that’s done pro bono the same as for paying clients. The legacy of Chesterfield Smith will long be remembered because of Holland & Knight’s commitment to the community.”
Melton was in Jacksonville last week to help the company reorganize the way it provides services to clients.
“I have a new Practice Management Organization within the firm that is giving much more autonomy and authority to Practice Group leaders than they previously held,” he said. “There’s also a lot more accountability than they’ve had in the past with regards to the performance of their practice.”
The firm previously had a “one -size-fits-all” formula for developing work and maintaining client relationships, Melton said.
“There is now more flexibility. As in, some lawyers may spend the majority of their time doing things other than actually performing legal services for clients. Those decisions will be made within the practice groups.
“It really is more of a focus
on team success rather than
individual success. And there will be more focus on our being a national and global firm rather than what has been more of just a local focus.”
That focus will still feature areas such as legal services to the construction industry, the hospitality industry and private wealth services. But the responsible attorneys will act more as teams, rather than individuals.
“I think, for instance, that the private wealth services group is going to be well positioned in the market to service those clients,” he said. “And they can legitimately say that we have people who, by any objective measure, would be recognized as best in class — wherever we might have offices.”
Melton expects the firm will use advertising to spread the word about its specialties. But don’t look for any splashy campaigns.
“As [advertising] developed initially, some of the large firms were the last to get involved and found it distasteful,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll see Holland & Knight on TV talking about private wealth services. But I think we’ll find ways to get before that market, and that may well include the print media.”
For as busy as he has been — and as busy as he expects to be — Melton apparently wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s a challenge,” he said, “managing a firm that’s grown this quickly . . . making sure that firms we would acquire through merger were compatible with our culture. It doesn’t always work out, but, by and large, we’re headed in the right direction.”