Holifield, Marilyn J.

Person

Holifield, Marilyn J.

Ms. Marilyn Holifield is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney. She was inspired to pursue a career in law by her mother who told her about listening to an amazing civil rights lawyer, Constance Baker Motley, an activist arguing about school desegregation at the Tallahassee courthouse. Her father was also an inspiration, Bishop Holifield Sr. had been the first Black soil conservationist in Florida with the United States Department of Agriculture. His job required him to advise both Black and White farmers about federal programs available through the department. Holifield transferred to Leon High in 1963, one of the first three Black students to attend the all-White Leon High. She then graduated in 1969 from Swarthmore College and in 1972 from Harvard Law School. She also worked as a law clerk for 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Paul H. Roney in St. Petersburg, FL. She and Atlantis Lynn Walker initiated a class action against Georgia's correctional system in the mid-1970s. In 1986, she became one of the firm Holland & Knight’s first minority partners. Holifield co-founded the firm's program creating stronger business links with Caribbean nations. Before that she worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York City. In 1990, she worked pro bono on successfully forcing a Miami rental community to stop excluding people of color. She also helped organize the Boycott Miami Campaign, in which the Black communities of Miami boycotted the tourist industry to protest the city’s disrespectful actions against Nelson Mandela and other acts of racial violence. During the Boycott, Attorney H.T. Smith, the other Boycott Miami spokesperson, said of Holifield, “She's "a quiet tower of strength” and has a good analytical mind." Kendall-based attorney Cynthia Everett said: "She is a leader beyond reproach and she successfully balances numerous competing professional demands as one of the best lawyers in her field." In 2000, she was awarded the Chesterfield Smith Lawyer Award, its highest honor. Holifield also serves on the University of Miami board of trustees, Harvard Alumni Association board, and as a director for the Miami Performing Arts Center Foundation. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the Academy of Florida Management Attorneys, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Litigation Counsel of America.

Kate Villa
UGrow Fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2020-2021

References:

Sandra J Charite. "MARILYN HOLIFIELD." The Miami times [Miami, Fla] 2009: The Miami Times, 2009-04-08, Vol.86 (33). https://miami-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1k369cc/TN_cdi_proquest_newspapers_363169724

Stephen Van Drake. "Local Lawyer Breaks Free of Barriers." Business Journal 24.12 (2003): A3. https://miami-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1k369cc/TN_cdi_proquest_reports_229291993

Hicks, Kimberly. "Marilyn Holifield: Lady With Class." The Miami times [Miami, Fla] 1992: The Miami Times, 1992-02-06, Vol.69 (23). https://miami-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1k369cc/TN_cdi_proquest_newspapers_363132660

Final

Full

Kate Villa
UGrow Fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2020-2021