Tampa law firm names new leaders of appellate division

Holland & Knight partners Amit Agarwal and Stacy Blank have been named co-chairs of the firm’s appellate team, which consists of 50 lawyers, some of whom, according to a news release, have experience at the U.S. Supreme Court and many state appellate courts throughout the country.

Laurie Daniel, another partner at Holland & Knight, previously led the firm’s appellate division. She recently left Holland & Knight to start her own law firm.

Agarwal, the release states, joined Holland & Knight last October. Prior to returning to private practice, he served as Florida’s solicitor general for nearly five years. He will split his time between the firm’s Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., offices.

Blank, meanwhile, has been an appellate lawyer at Holland & Knight’s Tampa office since 1988.

"Stacy and Amit are both brilliant lawyers who bring incredible insight and professionalism to every matter they handle," states Christopher Kelly, leader of Holland & Knight's litigation section, in the release. "Amit has been a wonderful addition to the firm and Stacy has shown enormous dedication to Holland & Knight throughout her career. To the extent past is prologue, the decades of appellate success enjoyed by Amit and Stacy paint a future ripe with opportunities to continue to write the firm's impressive history of appellate achievements."    

Earlier in his career, the release states, Agarwal clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. He also clerked for Justice Brett Cavanaugh while Cavanaugh served as a judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Blank has litigated appeals in all Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court and many U.S. Courts of Appeals. She also has assisted trial lawyers with appeals in the state appellate courts of California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.