Steven Sonberg
Steven Sonberg
Steven Sonberg serves as managing partner of Holland & Knight and oversees its growth and direction. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida with 34 offices worldwide and over 2000 attorneys and other staffers, Holland & Knight currently boasts Steven as their managing partner.
He will step down after the first quarter of 2024, ending a 16-year run that saw explosive growth for the firm including its mergers with Tennessee-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis and Texas-based Thompson & Knight in March and August respectively. He will be succeeded by three current partners.
Early Life and Education
Steven Sonberg hails from Miami, Florida. He attended the University of Miami where he received his law degree in 1972. Since then he has been practicing with Holland & Knight, providing clients with assistance regarding Business/Corporate matters.
He has been a partner at the firm since 1982 and serves as co-leader of its corporate, M&A and securities practice group. Over his 16-year term as managing partner he has overseen an extraordinary expansion at the firm with nearly 900 lawyers joining and 17 offices opening.
Sonberg will be replaced as leader next year by three current partners representing different offices of the firm: Robert Grammig will become chair and CEO, David Whitestone as managing partner, and Tiffani Lee serving as deputy managing partner. These individuals were chosen because they represent all aspects of geographic diversity within the firm as well as practice areas.
Professional Career
Steven Sonberg has led Florida’s largest law firm for 16 years as managing partner. Under his direction, Holland & Knight expanded from 85 attorneys and 10 offices to nearly 900 attorneys and 17 locations; moreover, its total revenue increased by more than $1 billion through mergers with Tennessee-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis and Texas-based Thompson & Knight law firms.
Sonberg specialized in corporate and securities law, representing domestic and foreign businesses in mergers and acquisitions, public offerings of equity and debt securities, as well as other complex financial transactions. Since 1992, he has been a partner in his practice.
Sonberg has also been actively involved with his community during his time at Holland & Knight, serving on boards such as Miami-Dade County Council on Legal Services and Florida Bar Foundation.
Personal Life
Steven Sonberg oversaw Holland & Knight’s rapid growth for sixteen years as its managing partner, overseeing mergers such as those with Thompson & Knight and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis that brought it up to more than 2,000 lawyers spread out over 34 offices worldwide.
He provides legal representation in complex employment matters for his clients, providing advice on sensitive human resource matters such as recruiting and hiring talent, worker classification issues and employee non-competes/misappropriation of trade secrets issues. In addition, he assists them with various forms of litigation matters such as high stakes terminations of employees and internal investigations of misconduct allegations.
Sonberg will be replaced as managing partner by three current Holland & Knight partners spread across its various offices: Robert Grammig will take over as Chair and Chief Executive Officer; while David Whitestone and Tiffani Lee will fill these roles respectively.
Net Worth
Steven Sonberg has an estimated net worth of approximately $1.5 billion and serves as managing partner of Holland & Knight, overseeing its strategic growth. Additionally, he co-leads their corporate, mergers & acquisitions & complex securities group as co-chair and chairs their business law section chair. Steven has represented both public and private companies in major domestic & international transactions such as equity/debt offerings, M&A deals and complex securities matters – in many instances being public offerings themselves! Steven is a member of Florida Bar as well.
Sonberg announced his plan to step down as managing partner by the end of the first quarter in 2019, making way for Robert Grammig to become chairman and chief executive officer, David Whitestone as managing partner, and Tiffani Lee as deputy managing partner.