Holland & Knight's steady growth continued in 2017 as the Am Law 100 firm's top line hit $848 million, up 5.6 percent from the $803 million in gross revenue it took in the year prior.

Revenue per lawyer grew 5.1 percent, to $786,000, while profits per partner grew 5.4 percent, to $1.360 million, up from $1.29 million in 2016. Overall head count at Holland & Knight remained mostly flat at 1,079, and the number of equity partners dipped 3.2 percent, to 179.

“We had another very good year,” said Holland & Knight managing partner Steven Sonberg, elected a decade ago as leader of the firm.

At the time, Sonberg found himself running one of the largest firms in Florida right when the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy, with the Sunshine State particularly hard hit. Despite some initial hardships, Holland & Knight proved resilient, posting increases in gross revenue, net income and profits per equity partner since 2009, Sonberg said.

“We think we've had a good run in terms of being able to come out of the 2009 downturn and we've been able to continue that,” Sonberg said.

In order to weather the financial crisis, Holland & Knight implemented a strategic plan focusing on growth in the U.S. and Latin America in areas and practices where the firm was already strong, Sonberg said.

“Rather than just looking for growth for growth's sake, our additions were really focused in areas where we had strength and it was very much an opportunity for doubling down on that strength,” Sonberg said.

And the firm continued that strategy in 2017 with several high profile additions across the country.

In Miami, Holland & Knight recruited former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Wifredo Ferrer as head of its global compliance and investigations team, while also adding ex-Baker McKenzie CFO Stewart Kasner as a private wealth partner in the city.

The firm picked up a four-partner team of commercial lending lawyers from Jones Day in Atlanta and bolted on two more partners in Boston, including former Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr energy and clean technology group co-chair Mark Kalpin.

Across the Atlantic, Holland & Knight's London office, which opened its doors in 2016 via the firm's acquisition of U.K.-based Clark Ricketts, brought on an aviation finance team from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Holland & Knight did see some notable departures last year, such as Charles Tobin, a First Amendment litigator who decamped for Ballard Spahr, where he now co-chairs that firm's media and entertainment law group in Washington, D.C.

Sonberg said strong performances by the firm's financial services practice, as well as its corporate and M&A group, particularly in the area of private equity, propelled Holland & Knight's financial growth in 2017.

The firm advised PharMerica Corp. on its $1.4 billion privatization deal with the Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and buyout giant KKR & Co. LP. Holland & Knight also represented private energy developer Stone Capital Corp. in its $500 million project bond offering that financed four power generating plants around Buenos Aires.

On the litigation side, Sonberg said the firm's white-collar and investigations practices also had a strong year.

Holland & Knight successfully defended Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and its former CEO Colin Veitch in a $90 million defamation suit. The firm also represented the estate of Subway co-founder Frederick DeLuca in a high-profile jury trial that saw the its client receive a judgment of more than $23 million, as Holland & Knight reaped more than $10 million in fees and costs.

The firm's real estate practice was also busy in 2017, landing roles on deals such as advising Marriott International Inc. in management agreements for the tallest luxury hotel in Toronto and Victor Group and Lendlease Corp. Ltd. in a $369 million financing for a condominium project at New York's 281 Fifth Avenue.

And while Sonberg said that Holland & Knight remains conservative in its predictions for 2018, the firm has already hit the ground running, swiping five Jones Day lawyers in Mexico City.