Adam Sonenshine

Adam first joined the Atlanta office of Eversheds Sutherland in 2014 as a real estate associate. He remembers his first week well, particularly as it was followed by a three-week vacation to deal with the small matter of getting married. Upon returning as a newlywed, partners like Rob Plowden and Jim Jordan were the guides he remembers with fondness. Other influential figures included Clay Howell. “There was a lot of handholding and training as I started handling leases, developments, and working with interesting investor clients looking to buy and develop land,” says Adam. “The partners would return my documents and say, ‘Adam this is all red but we’re gonna sit down and work through this.’ That meant a lot.”

One of his proudest achievements involved the high-profile development of The Battery Atlanta, home to the Atlanta Braves. Working on major landmark projects like this helped Adam hone key skills in writing, thinking critically, negotiating deals, and especially listening carefully to clients and counterparties to understand their goals and constraints. The Battery deal stands out as a particular career highlight. “It was a very long and complicated project but an exciting one. I learned so much.” Still to this day, Adam proudly shares his insider knowledge when attending Braves games at the stadium. “Every time I go, I tell people about the deal and try to explain all the legal jargon, even though they must’ve heard the story many times already!”

Having long envisioned moving in-house someday into a strategic business role, Adam slowly built rapport with Holder's leadership team. After much dialogue and while still working as external counsel at Eversheds Sutherland, Adam made the leap to join Holder Properties in late 2019, just before the pandemic hit. As the sole lawyer at the growing firm, his role expanded rapidly to include crafting COVID policies, taking on HR matters, coordinating IT support, planning employee events, and more. His colleagues joked that Adam was the “Swiss Army knife” at Holder, wearing many hats and solving many issues beyond legal counsel. On any given day, Adam may still handle contracts, coordinate teams and deadlines to close deals, work on HR incentives, offer feedback on marketing strategies, or deal with IT projects. This diverse mix allows him to tap new skills and interests each day while structuring deals and managing legal risk. Most of all, he values how his wide-ranging inputs directly further Holder’s business strategy and vision.

With deep Atlanta roots, Holder Properties separated from its construction arm in the 1980s to focus more wholly on real estate investment, development, and management under longtime leader John Holder. Having completed over 100 buildings spanning millions of square feet over the past four decades, the Holder name remains synonymous with major local projects in the southeast. John has passed the reins to the current executive team, led by Robert Holder and Will Menkes. Adam sees his own role as upholding the long legacy of developing trust by doing what’s right established by John over decades of thoughtful leadership. With a rich heritage but room to grow its identity and connections, Holder Properties has a bright future ahead.

With a premed background but plans derailed when his older brother talked him out of medical school (despite being a doctor himself!), Adam somewhat stumbled into law school via an investment banking internship. But, over time, he has come to value the broad experiences across the large and small firms that led him to finding his niche applying legal skills in a strategic business role at Holder Properties. His advice to younger attorneys? “Try working on diverse practice areas early on to identify the best fit and specialization that fuels your passion – while asking lots of questions along the journey.” At Holder Properties and Eversheds Sutherland alike, the leaders creating success and legacy tend to share a spirit of service, support for growth in others, and wisdom to listen first and understand underlying needs and goals. Finding mentors like them who can share institutional knowledge while making space for you to grow can make all the difference in a fulfilling career, whether inside or beyond a law firm setting.