John Holland Law Bios
John Robert Holland - Attorney
Anna Holland-Edwards - Attorney
Erica Tick Grossman - Attorney
Lauren Whitehead - Paralegal
John Robert Holland
I have a B.A. and M.A. from the University of California Santa Barbara in Religious Studies. I have my J.D. from U.C.L.A. I have the A.V. top rating from Martindale Hubble and have been repeatedly selected by my peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers.
I was honored and humbled to recently receive the Anti-Defamation League's 2008 Civil Rights Award for my continuing work on civil rights. Our firm just received the 2010 Colorado Trial Lawyer Association "Access to Justice" Award and the 2010 ACLU Carle Whitehead Award for our work in Guantanamo.
Our civil rights are the most precious individual jewels of our legal civilization. They are constantly being assaulted and are always at risk. While these cases can be difficult, they are very rewarding. Occasionally we have had the privilege of seeing or at least hovering briefly near what Morris Dees (head of the Southern Poverty Law Center) calls, the "face of justice."
I have represented many people in individual cases. I have published articles on a number of subjects ranging from the Myth of Caps in nursing home litigation to disqualifying judges in Colorado civil cases. I am asked from time to time to lecture on nursing home litigation by the Colorado Bar Association and the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. I also have been invited to speak on these subjects at national conventions, such as those sponsored by Mealey's. I have also spoken on many occasions and written about representing Guantanamo Bay detainees along with Anna and Erica.
I started practice as a student intern working for the Zuni Legal Aid Society in New Mexico while in law school at U.C.L.A. I received a three year Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship when I graduated.
I was assigned to the Denver Legal Aid Society where I stayed after my fellowship until 1979. During this time, I was fortunate to try many cases and to bring numerous major class action lawsuits. We challenged the way the government regulated nursing homes, which focused on paper compliance instead of the actual care delivered. We sued RTD to put lifts on buses so that people in wheelchairs could begin to have equal access to the state. We sued to expand the old age pension laws to pick up poor people starting at age 60 without a 35-year residency requirement, as had been the intent of the people of Colorado when the program was adopted during the Depression. We brought a number of other similar class actions. I became the Director of Litigation for Legal Aid and I began my own practice in 1979.
Redressing the scandalous continuing abuse and neglect of the elderly and disabled against nursing homes, assisted living facilities, personal care homes and hospitals, has been a career passion for me.
Anna Holland Edwards
Anna Holland-Edwards joined our practice as an attorney in October 2004 after obtaining her law degree at Northwestern University in Chicago. While in law school she worked with the Juvenile and Death Penalty projects and also was a finalist in the prestigious Julius H. Miner Moot Court Competition.
Anna attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and graduated with honors in 2000. During college she was an intern for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington. Thereafter she was active in running a successful Congressional campaign for Jim Maloney. She then joined the Congressman in Washington as a staff member prior to law school. While in law school, she worked as a law clerk for the prominent plaintiff law firm of, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld and Toll, in Washington D.C. She also worked with Greater Boston Legal Services.
Anna serves on the Board of Directors for Atlantis Community, a community organization specializing in providing services to people with disabilities, and advocating for their rights in all parts of society, including the workplaces, housing, education, and public places.
Anna speaks a number of languages, including French and Spanish, and has represented numerous Spanish speaking clients.
Anna is John's daughter and has worked with the firm on important cases for most of her life. She has been deeply involved with both our nursing home practice and a number of civil rights cases listed in our Significant Cases section. She also has a keen interest in representing plaintiffs in civil rights cases and has been actively involved in representing prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. She is licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of Colorado.
Erica Tick Grossman
Erica Grossman joined our practice as an attorney in August, 2007.
Erica obtained her law degree at the University of Michigan Law School and graduated with honors in 2004. During Law School, she worked with the Criminal Justice clinic, the Civil Trial Clinic, and was the recipient of the Lee Bollinger Award for her studies in the First Amendment.
Erica attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and graduated with honors in 2000. After graduation from college, Erica worked with emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children in Massachusetts.
After graduating from law school, Erica worked as a litigation associate at the prominent national law firm of Latham & Watkins, LLP in San Francisco, California.
While at Latham & Watkins, Erica worked on a number of high profile cases, in areas of white-collar crimes, antitrust litigation, securities litigation, and employment law. She also dedicated herself to the firm's pro bono work, representing persecuted people seeking political asylum, low-income families in landlord-tenant disputes, indigent children in school expulsion hearings, and doing appellate work on constitutional rights issues.
Erica is deeply committed to representing the families of people injured in nursing homes and to bringing cases to vindicate serious deprivations of civil rights.
Erica is licensed to practice before the state and federal courts of Colorado. She is also licensed to practice before the California bar and all courts within California.
Lauren Whitehead
Lauren Whitehead joined the firm in 2011 and is the firm's paralegal and office manager. She is a native of California and in 2010 she followed her long time dream of moving to Denver.
Prior to joining our firm, Lauren spent several years assisting disabled Plaintiffs as they enforced their civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She received her paralegal certification from the University of San Diego in 2008.
Lauren is committed to our clients and is passionate about defending and protecting their rights. She is likely to be your first point of contact with the firm and is always happy to assist in any way that she can. You should always feel comfortable confiding in Lauren just as you would any of our attorneys. Helping you through the undoubtedly difficult situation that you are dealing with is her top priority.