Press Release
June 8, 2017

Holland & Knight Adds High-Profile Litigation Team in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 8, 2017) – A group of four litigation attorneys led by Partner Matt Donohue have joined Holland & Knight's Portland office. The team includes Partners Shannon Armstrong and Joe Franco, Senior Counsel Lisa Howley and Paralegal Gillian Phillips. All were previously with Markowitz Herbold PC in Portland.

The group focuses on complex commercial litigation, representing clients in high-stakes business disputes across the country. They represent companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 corporations in a wide variety of cases, including antitrust, class actions, contract and licensing disputes, partnership and shareholder disputes, and real estate and intellectual property litigation.  

"Matt, Shannon and Joe have built an impressive commercial litigation practice that combines representing clients local to the Pacific Northwest with a high-level national practice," said Matthew Vafidis, the leader of Holland & Knight's West Coast Litigation Practice Group. "They are a major addition to our Portland litigation team and will play an important role in the continued growth of our practice on the West Coast." 

"Holland & Knight's national, full-service platform allows us to further develop and expand our practice, particularly outside of the Portland area, and to provide additional services to our existing clients," said Mr. Donohue. "We look forward to working with our new colleagues to enhance the office's local litigation client base and to increase the volume of national work done for Portland-based companies. We are hitting the ground running and will continue to add lawyers to the litigation team here."

"Landing Matt and his team is a major coup for our firm," said Sara Heskett, executive partner of Holland & Knight's Portland office. "They are among the best lawyers in the city with an excellent reputation and a dynamic litigation practice."

Holland & Knight's litigation practice is one of the largest in the United States. Its attorneys handle a wide range of controversy work, including federal and state, trial and appellate, and international and domestic, as well as arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. They regularly represent clients in complex commercial litigation, class actions, international litigation, securities litigation, bankruptcy and creditors' rights matters, product liability and mass disaster cases, white collar and enforcement defense cases, and labor and employment matters.

Attorneys in Holland & Knight's Portland office focus on commercial litigation and appeals; mergers/acquisitions and securities law; affordable housing; private wealth services; taxation; lawyer ethics, risk management and regulation; product liability and technology; transportation; real estate development and leasing; government contracts; employment litigation and counsel; and telecommunications and media.

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