Celebrating our bar association's diverse membership and highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of KBA members.

The KBA Archives Committee is pleased to share the interview of  Bob Pryor as the latest addition to the collection of KBA Legal History Videos. Robbie Pryor interviewed his father and the two discussed stories and memories of the local bar over the past fifty +years. The video is available on YouTube and is available from a link on the Legal History Videos page on the KBA website.

Bob Pryor is a music enthusiast, story teller, entertainer, teacher and author on top of being one of East Tennessee's top trial attorneys. Bob graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1969, and founded his firm, Pryor, Priest, and Harber in 1981. He is a graduate of The University of Tennessee (B.S.) and The University of Tennessee College of Law (J.D., 1969). He is a member of the Knoxville, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations; the American Association of Justice; the Tennessee Association for Justice; American Board of Trial Advocates (Advocate); Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court (Master of the Bench Emeritus); and the Society of Law and Medicine. In 2006, Bob received the Knoxville Bar Association's highest award, the Governors Award.

The KBA Archives Committee is pleased to share the interview of  Timothy A. Priest as the latest addition to the collection of KBA Legal History Videos. Adam Priest interviewed his father Tim Priest and the two discussed stories and memories of the local bar over the past forty-six years. The video is available on YouTube and is available from a link on the Legal History Videos page on the KBA website.

Tim Priest is a native of Huntingdon, Tennessee, and a graduate of The University of Tennessee (B.S., Cum Laude, 1972) and The University College of Law (J.D., Valedictorian, 1975). He was admitted to the Bar in 1976 and began practicing with Banks, Campbell & Owens. In January, 1982, he began practicing with Frank Flynn and Bob Pryor and the firm was known as Pryor, Flynn and Priest. He retired after 40 years with the firm now known as Pryor, Priest & Harber at the end of 2022.  

Tim served as the football color analyst for the University of Tennessee's Vol Radio Network from 1999 to 2021, working alongside play-by-play commentator Bob Kesling. Priest played for Tennessee from 1968 to 1970, and holds the school's career interceptions record, with 18. 

Mayor Indya Kincannon and Police Chief Paul Noel announced today the appointment of Brooklyn Sawyers Belk to the position of Deputy Chief of Professional Standards. During the press conference, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon noted that this "is a big investment for our city and one that will help with our continued focus on equitability and transparency." Knoxville Police Chief Paul remarked that the role is designed to uphold the agency's culture and make sure members adhere to its values. Brooklyn will begin her new position on Monday, February 20.

Brooklyn has served many roles in her career, including visiting law professor at the UT College of Law, in-house counsel, and law firm partner and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial. Brooklyn also served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2009 to 2018, including in East and Middle Tennessee. Brooklyn is active in the Knoxville Bar Association as a frequent lecturer and author, and has served in a leadership capacity on many committees.  

The Tennessee Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments met yesterday to consider five applicants for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Supreme Court. After holding a public hearing and conducting public interviews, the council selected the following three applicants: Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Kristi M. Davis, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Tom Greenholtz and Knoxville lawyer Dwight E. Tarwater. Once the governor makes his selection, the confirmation process will begin before the General Assembly. The vacancy will be created when Justice Sharon G. Lee retires on Aug. 31. 

The Tennessee Bar Association announces that 33 attorneys from across the state have been selected for its 2023 Leadership Law program. The three chosen from Knoxville are Holly Fuller, Legal Aid of East Tennessee; LaKenya Middlebrook, City of Knoxville and Allison Starnes-Anglea, LMU Duncan School of Law. Now in its twentieth year, Leadership Law is designed to equip Tennessee lawyers with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to serve as leaders in their profession and local communities. The class will meet for its first session in January and spend the next six months learning about leadership in the legal profession, issues in the courts, policymaking in state government and the importance of community service.

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee has notified Governor Bill Lee that she will retire on August 31, 2023.

“Serving in the Tennessee Judiciary for the past 19 years has been the greatest honor of my professional life,” Justice Lee said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Tennesseans and have done my best to fulfill my judicial oath by upholding the state and federal Constitutions and administering justice faithfully and impartially.”

At the time of her retirement, Justice Lee will have served 15 years on the Supreme Court and 4 years on the Court of Appeals.  

Justice Lee is currently the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court and the only justice from East Tennessee. She was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2008 and retained by the voters in 2010, 2014, and 2022. Read the press release.

The KBA Archives Committee is pleased to share the interview of  Hon. Mary Beth Leibowitz as the latest addition to the collection of KBA Legal History Videos. Josh Hedrick interviewed Judge Leibowitz and the two discussed stories and memories of the local bar over the past forty years. The video is available on YouTube and is available from a link on the Legal History Videos page on the KBA website.

Judge Leibowitz served for more than twenty-five years as the third division criminal court judge and was recognized by the KBA with a Judicial Excellence Award in 2020. Judge Leibowitz attended the College of William and Mary as an undergraduate and received her law degree from the University of Dayton.  She began her practice in Knoxville in 1978.  She estimates that there were only ten (10) other female attorneys practicing in Knoxville at that time.  She was appointed to the Criminal Court bench in 1989 and served until 2014.  She holds the record for time on the bench in Criminal Court in Knox County, and was only the fifth female in Tennessee to serve on the trial bench. 

The KBA Archives Committee is pleased to share the interviews of Hon. Curtis L. Collier and David Black as the latest additions to the collection of KBA Legal History Videos.

John Winemiller interviewed Judge Curtis Collier, who is a Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, about his distinguished legal career and his guiding principles . The video is available on YouTube and is available from a link on the Legal History Videos page on the KBA website.

David Draper interviewed David Black, who  spent more than thirty years with the firm of Kizer & Black in Maryville. The video is available on YouTube and is available from a link on the Legal History Videos page on the KBA website.

The KBA Archives Committee initiated the legal video history project in 2012 which preserves the experiences of senior members of the KBA for both the public and future generations of Knoxville lawyers. The oral history interviews include lawyers and judges and their war stories and insights on the practice of law, including some of Knoxville's most famous court cases. It is important not to forget the contributions of those who built the local bar and sharing milestones and stories of great lawyers and judges provide new lawyers with historical perspective and inspiration. Funding for the Legal History project is provided by the Knoxville Bar Foundation.

Chancellors John F. Weaver and Christopher D. Heagerty and Chancellor-Elect Richard B. Armstrong have appointed J. Scott Griswold as the Clerk and Master of the Knox County Chancery Court. Mr. Griswold will be sworn in on August 31, and he will succeed Howard G. Hogan, who is retiring after 24 years of dedicated service. The Clerk and Master manages the administrative functions of the Chancery Court and oversees the administration of probate matters. Mr. Griswold is a shareholder with Long, Ragsdale & Waters, P.C. and has been in private practice since 2008. Prior to starting private practice, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. William M. Barker, who was Chief Justice of the  Tennessee Supreme Court.  He is also an Assistant Examiner for the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners and a Fellow of the Knoxville Bar Foundation. Mr. Griswold holds undergraduate degrees in Accounting and  Political Science from Middle Tennessee State University and earned his law  degree from The University of Tennessee College of Law. 

The KBA is pleased to announce that the Barristers Diversity Committee was awarded a subgrant from the ABA Young Lawyers Division's EMBRACING Diversity Challenge to expand the interested and admitted students scholarship fund. This year, the Barristers Diversity Committee is chaired by Mariel Cooper of Quist, Fitzpatrick & Jarrard, PLLC and Grant Williamson of  Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.  The Interested and Admitted Scholarship Fund is a new program that raised over $6,000 from donations from the local legal community to help with travel and lodging costs for diverse law students who are invited to attend preview days hosted by the law schools. Funds awarded by the ABA YLD will be used to expand the program. Congratulations Knoxville Barristers and thanks Mariel and Grant for all your hard work!