About Douglas C.
Douglas C. Holland followed an uncommon route into law. He began in engineering, earning a B.S. in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1971. Several years later he turned to the law and received his J.D. from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville in 1978. The combination of technical training and legal education has shaped the way he approaches cases.
After law school, Holland built a practice that reaches into state and federal forums. He is admitted to the Indiana bar and maintains credentials to appear before multiple federal tribunals, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Tax Court, the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, and the Indiana Federal District Court. Those admissions reflect a career that spans trial and appellate work as well as tax litigation at the federal level.
Holland has been active in the local bar. He served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Dearborn/Ohio Bar Association in 1984, moved on to Vice President in 1986, and held the presidency of that organization in 1988. Those leadership posts placed him at the center of a small but engaged legal community and connected him to issues facing practitioners outside large metropolitan centers.
His background in civil engineering gives him a practical edge on cases that involve technical detail. He often approaches disputes by breaking complex problems into discrete parts, then analyzing each element against the legal standard at issue. Colleagues and clients have relied on that method in matters that require careful fact-finding and the ability to explain complicated points to judges and juries.
Holland's practice has included both litigation and appellate work. He has filed briefs and argued matters in federal appellate courts and handled proceedings in the U.S. Tax Court. That range means he has experience steering cases through different procedural landscapes, from district court discovery and motion practice to the more focused record review that characterizes appeals.
Now, more than four decades after earning his law degree, Holland continues to appear in state and federal forums. He represents clients in litigation and appellate proceedings, and he handles matters in the U.S. Tax Court and other federal venues. He currently represents clients in state and federal courts, including tax and appellate matters.
