FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Knoxville Bar Foundation inducted 10 new members into the Fellows of the Knoxville Bar Foundation during a reception on June 25, 2026. Induction into the Foundation is an honor for local attorneys. Each year, the Foundation selects among many eligible nominations, and membership as a Fellow represents less than one percent of the lawyers practicing in the Knoxville community. The Fellows consist of lawyers of the highest caliber in our community who have distinguished themselves in the practice of law and in service. The 2024 Class of Fellows is as follows: Joshua J. Bond Donald J. Farinato Bryce E. Fitzgerald Janet S. Hayes Joan M. Heminway Benjamin W. Jones B. Chase Kibler James S. MacDonald Brandon L. Morrow Robert P. Noell The Knoxville Bar FoundaƟon is a not-for-profit foundation established to improve public awareness of the legal system in Knoxville, the administration of justice, and the delivery of legal services through the distribution of grant funding. Contact: Tasha C. Blakney, tblakney@knoxbar.org
Click here to view the clinic flyer.
RE: ATTORNEY NOTICE OF APPEARANCE All attorneys appearing on behalf of a defendant who intends to enter a plea of not guilty and contest a violation must file a notice of appearance with the Court. The notice must be filed no less than fourteen days before the defendant's next scheduled court appearance at which the attorney intends to appear. Notice must be submitted by mail, electronic mail to citycourt@knoxvilletn.gov, or filed in person. Notice must also be served upon the City of Knoxville Law Director's Office by the same methods and within the same period of time. If notice is not filed or is untimely, the defendant's court date will be reset no less than fourteen days. Attorneys appearing on behalf of a defendant who intends to enter a no-contest or guilty plea are not required to file a notice of appearance. This rule shall take effect on March 19, 2024. Read the full release here.
WATE Knox County News met with KBA Members Devin Devore and Caitlin Torney, as well as Executive Director Tasha Blakney, to share information about the Faith & Justice Alliance Legal Clinic on February 10. This interview was held at the clinic's location, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 400 Kendall Road. The published article gives insight as to what the public can expect at the clinic, and members can watch the full released interview below.
The Knoxville Bar Foundation was established in 1992 to improve the administration of justice, to enhance the public’s understanding of and confidence in the legal system, and to serve the legal profession. Since its inception, the Bar Foundation has awarded approximately $ 560,000 in grants for local law-related projects and programs. This is a meaningful contribution to programs that promote and enable the essence of what we, as lawyers, seek – liberty and justice for all. Last year, the Board of Directors approved twelve grant requests totaling $25,000.
In May 2024, the Knoxville Bar Foundation will again award grants to deserving applicants. The individual grant awards usually are $5,000 or less, and the deadline for submitting grant applications is March 8, 2024. Please note that grant funding may not be used for operating costs and endowments. We are excited about this year’s grant program and encourage interested parties and organizations to apply.
Learn more about the Knoxville Bar Foundation and submit an online application at https://www.knoxbar.org/?pg=KnoxvilleBarFoundation.
KBA Member Survey Results Released Evaluating Candidates for Knox County Law Director and Criminal Court Judge
The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) today released the results of its Candidate Survey for the survey for the offices related to the judicial system on the ballot for the March 5 Knox County Primary Election. All candidates, whether opposed or not, were evaluated. View the results of the survey here.
The Survey asked each KBA member to carefully assess whether the candidates have demonstrated the knowledge, skill, experience, training, education, professional ethics, and temperament to fulfill the duties of the offices to which they aspire. The Survey is designed to provide a measure of guidance to voters who might otherwise be unfamiliar with the candidates.
The Survey asked members to evaluate each candidate’s overall suitability for the offices of Knox County Law Director and Criminal Court Judge, Division II. Candidates were rated according to the following options: Strongly Recommend, Recommend, Do Not Recommend, Strongly Do Not Recommend, and Do Not Know Well Enough to Rate Candidate. If an attorney did not know the candidates’ qualifications or had no opinion, they were instructed to mark “Do Not Know Well Enough to Rate Candidate.”
“The intent is not to endorse any particular candidate, but rather to inform the public of the opinions of the attorneys actively practicing in East Tennessee regarding candidates’ fitness to serve in the judicial and related offices to which they are seeking election. The Knoxville Bar Association is pleased to provide this service to members of our community who have few, if any, encounters with the court system,” said KBA President Carlos A. Yunsan about the KBA’s Membership Survey policy. “An informed electorate is vital to the efficient administration of justice.”
The Survey was conducted electronically from January 15 until noon on January 26, 2024.
As a service to the community, the KBA has developed a Get To Know Your Judicial Candidates section on our website to provide information about candidates for the offices related to the judicial system on the ballot for the March 5 County Primary Election. All four candidates have completed profiles to share their experience and why they want to serve Knox County. The site also offers educational resources so voters will know what to look for in candidates and can make an informed decision at the ballot box.
The KBA's Candidate Member Survey for the March 5 County primary will be released to the membership on Monday, January 15, and the deadline is noon on January 26. The Survey is not a popularity contest. Instead, it is an assessment of the merits of individuals as seen through the eyes of their peers in the legal profession. The KBA believes that this poll will provide the voting public with valuable information because of our members' day-to-day work within the judicial system and the diversity of legal practices in which our members are engaged.
The KBA Candidate Member Survey has been designed to ensure the anonymity of each member's ballot and to permit only one ballot per KBA member. We know that it is critically important that no one be able to determine how any individual KBA members voted in this Survey. Survey Monkey, the electronic voting software, will confidentially "mark" the member records of those who have participated and disallow further attempts to vote. Due to firewalls that many law firms, government agencies, and companies have in place, you may find that the email invitation to participate in the Survey will be treated as spam, and the email will be blocked. The only way to receive the email with the survey link is to add Survey Monkey's outbound email servers to your email clients' allow list. Learn more at https://help.surveymonkey.com/en/surveymonkey/account/allow-list/.
Members will be asked if they “recommend” each candidate based on personal, professional observations of the candidates conducting their duties as lawyers, as it is germane to determining how well a candidate likely is to discharge important responsibilities of the office they are seeking. Likely, personal knowledge is not present for every candidate. In those instances when members have not had the personal interaction or ability to observe the candidate, then the proper answer is " Do Not Know Well Enough to Rate Candidate." The larger the percentage of KBA members who participate in the survey, the more representative our bar will be in the information provided to the public and to the candidates, and the more we prove to the public that the legal profession cares about our system of justice.
Learn more about the candidates by viewing the 2024 Candidate Election pages here.
KBA Annual Meeting & Elections December 8, 2023 View the Annual Meeting PowerPoint Annual Meeting Packet View the Photo Gallery
The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) held its Annual Meeting on Friday, December 8, 2023. The President's gavel was passed from Loretta G. Cravens of Eldridge & Blakney, PC to Carlos A. Yunsan of the University of Tennessee College of Law. The executive director mantle was also passed from long-time director Marsha S. Watson to incoming director Tasha C. Blakney. Watson was recognized for her 33-year tenure at the helm of the KBA by the creation of a special lifetime membership for her and the renaming of the KBA’s conference room in her honor.
Outgoing President Cravens thanked her fellow board members and all KBA members for their support and recognized the KBA staff for their dedication to East Tennessee attorneys and the legal community.
In his remarks, incoming President Carlos A. Yunsan congratulated Cravens and acknowledged the success of the organization under her leadership. Yunsan also thanked Marsha Watson for her invaluable contributions over a career with the association spanning more than three decades. Mr. Yunsan remarked that in 2024, with incoming Executive Director Tasha Blakney at the helm, “the KBA is poised to build on Ms. Watson’s legacy and to be a place to belong for all legal professionals in the Knoxville area.” He called upon KBA members to “try out a KBA initiative they have not tried before, to bring along someone in their circle of influence, and to personally reach out to a colleague unfamiliar to them—in other words, to actively expand their horizons.”
During the meeting, the following KBA members were elected as officers for 2024:
• President-Elect – Jonathan D. Cooper, Knox Defense
• Treasurer – Rachel Park Hurt, Arnett | Baker, LLP
• Secretary – Ursula Bailey, Law Office of Ursula Bailey
The membership elected the following KBA members to the four open positions on the Board of Governors:
• Melissa B. Carrasco, Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, PC
• James R. Stovall, Ritchie, Davies, Johnson & Stovall, PC
• Alicia J. Teubert, Anderson Busby PLLC
• Joan M. Heminway, University of Tennessee College of Law
John E. Eldridge was presented the KBA's highest award, the prestigious Governors' Award, which is given annually to a lawyer whose peers believe has brought distinction and honor to the legal profession. Mr. Eldridge has distinguished himself with an exceptional career of service to the bar and the community, including serving as a long-time advocate in the fields of criminal law and civil rights.
Douglas A. Blaze, former dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law, was recognized with the Don Paine Lawyer Legacy Award. The award, which seeks to honor the contributions of a lawyer who is committed to access to justice, mentoring, service, and scholarship, was given to Blaze in recognition of his long career as an educator and former director of clinical programs and of the Institute for Professional Leadership at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
The Honorable Sharon G. Lee was presented the KBA's Judicial Excellence Award. The award was created in 2022 to recognize a judge felt by the Association to represent the very best in a judicial officer. Recently retired from the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Lee served on the state’s highest court from 2008 until September of 2023. She served as Chief Justice of the Court from September of 2014 to August 2016. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Lee was the first woman to serve on the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. In addition to her legal scholarship, Justice Lee serves on the boards of many organizations devoted to the advancement of the law and access to justice.
The President’s Award for 2023 was presented to attorneys Elizabeth B. Ford and Hannah S. Lowe in recognition of their dedication and outstanding efforts on behalf of the KBA’s Wellness Committee.
The KBA’s award for outstanding legal writing was presented to a trio of University of Tennessee Law Professors: Judy M. Cornett, Alex B. Long, and Paula Schaefer, in recognition of their regular “Schooled in Ethics” columns in the KBA monthly magazine DICTA.
It was announced that Charles S.J. Sharett became President of the Knoxville Barristers, the Young Lawyers Division of the KBA, at the elections on December 6. The following were elected as Barristers Officers: Jimmy Snodgrass, Vice President; Jordan Houser, Secretary; Courteney Barnes-Anderson, Treasurer; and Mariel Bough and Isaac Westling, Members-at-Large. It was also announced that Isaac Westling and Bridget J. Pyman, Co-Chairs of the Mock Trial Committee, were presented with the Barristers' President’s Award for 2023.
The Board of Governors of the Knoxville Bar Association is pleased to announce that Knoxville attorney Tasha Blakney will become the next executive director of the association.
Ms. Blakney will join the association as its full-time director in mid-January, following the retirement of long-time director Marsha Watson.
“I’m honored to follow in the extraordinary footsteps of Marsha Watson and look forward to continuing the KBA’s long legacy of service to the bar and the community,” Blakney said.
Ms. Blakney is a long-time member of the Knoxville Bar, having practiced law in Knoxville since her graduation from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1999. She is a co-founding member of the Knoxville firm of Eldridge & Blakney, PC, where she has practiced as a litigator for more than 20 years. Ms. Blakney is an experienced leader in bar associations, having previously served as president of both the Knoxville Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association, as well as a number of other leadership positions in local, state, and national bar associations.
KBA President Loretta Cravens expressed her excitement that Ms. Blakney will be serving as the next executive director. "We conducted a national search, and interviewed many great candidates, but we found the right candidate for the job right here in our community. Tasha has all the attributes we were seeking as the next executive director, and her entire professional career has prepared her to take on this role."
Ms. Blakney's tenure follows that of departing executive director Marsha Watson's 33-years of service to the association. "Marsha has been a stalwart of the legal community. She has given countless hours of service to the KBA and the greater Knoxville community,” said Cravens. "Finding the right person to follow Marsha's three decades of leadership was of the utmost importance to the Board, and we believe we've found the right person to do just that."
KBA President Loretta G. Cravens will preside over the Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, December 8, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. at the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building. At the end of the meeting, Carlos A. Yunsan will be sworn in as KBA President.
The KBA Annual Meeting and Elections is one of the most important events of the year and we encourage all members to attend. It is an opportunity for members to gather and review the activities of the Association over the past year. Members will elect the Board of Governors, celebrate award recipients, extend well wishes to retiring Executive Director Marsha Watson, and learn about plans for 2024.
The Nominating Committee for the Officers and Board of Governors of the Knoxville Bar Association for the upcoming year is comprised of Chair Carlos A. Yunsan, Allison S. Jackson, Michelle Kwon, Vanessa Samano, Hon. Hector I. Sanchez, Hanson R. Tipton, and Broderick L. Young.
The Nominating Committee, having met, recommends that the following, all of whom are members of the Knoxville Bar Association, be placed in nomination at the Annual Meeting:
President-Elect: Jonathan D. Cooper Treasurer: Rachel Park Hurt Secretary: Ursula Bailey
There are four open positions on the Board of Governors. Three of the Board of Governor positions will be for three-year terms. The fourth is the one-year term government/public sector position. Nominations to fill the open positions on the Board of Governors are the following:
BOARD MEMBER: Three-Year Terms (VOTE FOR THREE)
Melissa B. Carrasco Hannah S. Lowe
Devin S. DeVore James R. Stovall
Ian P. Hennessey Alicia J. Teubert
BOARD MEMBER: Government/Public Sector Position: One-Year Term: Joan M. Heminway, UT College of Law According to Article VI, Section 1, of the KBA By-Laws: "Nominations may also be made from the floor during the Annual Meeting by any member in good standing."
Pursuant to the Bylaws change approved at the Annual Meeting in 1996, attorney members of the KBA are permitted to vote in the election by absentee ballot. ABSENTEE BALLOTS - VOTING IN THE KBA ELECTIONS Any member in good standing who personally comes to the KBA offices during regular business hours from Tuesday, November 21 through Thursday, December 7, will be permitted to vote. The member must first file a written form making oath that he or she will not be in town or otherwise be unable to attend the Annual Meeting. Then the member will be permitted to cast an absentee ballot for such officer or board positions as may be contested. KBA Business Hours: November 21: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. November 22: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. November 23 & 24: Closed November 27- December 7: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
During the Annual Meeting, the membership will be requested to vote on a change in the KBA dues structure beginning in 2024. The KBA Board of Governors has recommended a dues increase in the amount of $20.00 per member, bringing the annual membership dues to $165 for those licensed less than five years and $215 for those members licensed five years or more. Members in special dues categories (Law Professors, Court Clerks, Government & Public Sector Lawyers) will pay $165 in annual membership dues. In accordance with Article III, Section 1, "Each member shall pay to the Association in advance annual dues in categories and amounts as shall from time to time be recommended by the Board of Governors and approved by the members of the Association.” The last membership dues increase occurred in 2017. All judges have been requested to delay court until 10:00 a.m. on the morning of Friday, December 8, 2023.
To expedite check-in for the Annual Meeting, members should REGISTER on the KBA website before 5 p.m. on December 7.
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