Four Holland & Knight Partners Recognized as Crisis Leadership Trailblazers by National Law Journal

WASHINGTON (September 10, 2020) – Holland & Knight Partners Rich Gold, Joel Roberson, Nicole Elliott and Christopher Armstrong have been named Crisis Leadership Trailblazers by the National Law Journal. All are members of Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Practice Group, which Mr. Gold leads, and were recognized for the key role they played in the formation of the firm's COVID-19 response team. They are profiled in a special "Crisis Leadership Trailblazers" supplement, which was published in the September issue.

When Holland & Knight created the COVID-19 response team with Mr. Gold, Mr. Roberson, Ms. Elliott and Mr. Armstrong, the initial plan focused primary on public policy. "We knew we had to work with Congress to help businesses. But it has since evolved into more legal areas as we helped our clients through the process at both the federal and state levels," Mr. Gold told the publication.

As the National Law Journal reports, the Public Policy & Regulation Group assisted in writing several provisions of the CARES Act, helping to protect businesses and employees in several industries. As the number of client inquiries regarding the legislation began to increase, the team created an intake email system to receive requests, triage questions and guide them to the appropriate resources. They also developed a process for attorneys specializing in small business loans to address urgent client questions on such topics as large treasury loans and healthcare issues.

The publication also noted that given the Public Policy & Regulation Practice Group's history of public service, it refused to bill for much of the intake work, which rose to almost 500 email a day seeking guidance from more than 100 attorneys across the firm.