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E-mail to firm calls for loyalty

Holland & Knight's top female lawyer throws her support behind its managing partner.

By SCOTT BARANCIK and KRIS HUNDLEY
Published April 5, 2005

Martha Barnett, the most powerful female lawyer at Holland & Knight, has affirmed her support for managing partner Howell Melton Jr. in the wake of his recent handling of a sexual harassment case at the global law firm's Tampa office.

In an e-mail sent firmwide Friday night, Barnett - a 57-year-old Tallahassee lawyer who chairs Holland's directors' committee - said Melton deserves the firm's loyalty. But she hinted at some internal dissent over the situation.

"We are a richly diverse firm, and nothing says that we have to agree with everything that takes place in order to be loyal to the institution or to respect each other," Barnett wrote. "Much of our strength comes from our differences. We are confident in the Managing Partner and know that he will call on those strengths as he continues to deal (with) whatever issues arise as the current situation plays out."

Neither Barnett nor Melton, 53, agreed to comment on the companywide memo, which was her first communication to the firm's 1,250 lawyers since the controversy erupted.

Last week, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Tampa lawyer Douglas A. Wright, 44, had been named Holland's No. 3 executive just months after an internal committee concluded he had harassed female colleagues. The managing partner reprimanded Wright but chose not to levy several of the investigating committee's other recommended punishments. Six months later, Melton promoted Wright to chief operating partner.

When initially asked by reporters about the case, the firm criticized the leak of the internal investigation as a breach of confidentiality, saying in an e-mail that it "recklessly and unfairly impugns the reputation of one of the firm's finest partners."

Two days later, Wright's promotion was withdrawn, though he remains a partner.

Barnett's e-mail Friday was sent on behalf of the firm's directors' committee, which is made up of 24 equity partners. It represented a critical display of support from a key player.

Barnett was the first female lawyer to be named partner at Holland. Along with co-founder Chesterfield Smith, she is one of only two Holland attorneys to serve as president of the American Bar Association. She is only the second woman to hold that post.

Barnett graduated cum laude from the University of Florida's law school in 1973. A registered lobbyist and tax specialist licensed to practice law in Florida and the District of Columbia, Barnett's clients include IBM Corp. and Sarasota County. In 1998, the National Law Journal named her one of the country's 50 most influential lawyers. Last year, Florida Trend judged her one of Florida's most influential people.

In 2003, Barnett ran against Melton in the race for managing partner but dropped out the day before the election; she was elected chairwoman of the firm's directors' committee instead.Melton has three years left in his five-year term and is eligible to run for a second term.

While Barnett may have been trying to bring closure to a turbulent week at Holland with her e-mail, Larry Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management in Louisville, Ky., said management needs to take a more personal approach with employees.

"E-mails are good for communicating information quickly, but she (as a Holland executive) has fences to mend and a reputation to strengthen and rebuild," Smith said. "The management needs to do lots of one-on-ones and small group meetings (with employees) and a lot of listening."

He also had a suggestion for how Holland & Knight might handle Wright: "The firm itself ought to take a look at this gentleman practicing law someplace else."

Barnett's e-mail expressed sympathy for all parties involved in the Wright case. "We regret the anguish that they have experienced," she said.

In contrast to the firm's initial response, she did not attack the unknown person who leaked information about the Wright case to the press - a wise move in Smith's opinion. "To attack the leaker is almost always a bad thing to do," he said.

Instead, Barnett tried to rally troops around the "Holland & Knight Family."

"We are not the firm we have been portrayed to be in the media stories this week," she wrote. "We know it, and I believe that the press knows this as well."

--Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or 727 893-8751. Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.

[Last modified April 5, 2005, 01:30:21]