Legal Services & Lawyers

Margaret Held has known she wanted to be a lawyer since she was 8 years old, hearing the stories of her grandfather's practice in Knoxville. "When you decide to become a lawyer when you are a kid, it's because you want to stick up for the little guy and take down the bully."

As a new attorney, that attitude landed Ms. Held a prestigious Equal Justice Fellowship, awarded by the National Association for Public Interest Law to honor lawyers who make unique contributions in public law. The Fellowship allowed Ms. Held to represent entrepreneurs and non-profit rganizations to create and retain jobs in poor neighborhoods. "These folks could not afford corporate counsel," says Ms. Held. "It was great to be a new attorney, working up the legal documents to start a bank, suing the government over its use of economic incentives, and representing welfare moms to start businesses ranging from child-cares to ice cream parlors."

After the fellowship ended, Ms. Held continued her mission by founding Held Law Firm. "The Firm exists to support lawyers who have enough little kid in them to love the fight - who wake up each morning excited to take on the big boys, and who haven't become cynical about ideals like justice and fair play."

Ms. Held represented India Tracy in her lawsuit against the Union County school system for religious discrimination. She represented Citizens for Police Review in its battle for increased accountability within KPD. She helped the Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network to fight for a living wage for Knoxville workers. She obtained a record-breaking settlement for a Department of Energy whistleblower who reported safety violations in Oak Ridge. She represented KnoxRecall in its drive for increased accountability from Knoxville city lawmakers, and Knox County over abuses within the juvenile detention facility. "I suppose that these sorts of lawsuits haven't made me many friends in certain circles," laughs Ms. Held. "But they weren't who I went to law school for anyway."


"But seriously," she continues, "As fun as those cases are, the issues that matter most to real people are much more personal. Law, for regular people, is about your kids, your job, your business, your neighborhood. That's why we specialize in family law, employment law, and non-profit law." "My best hope is that we will take the mystery out of the legal process for my clients - that they will know how the legal system works, feel like they got sound advice and a good outcome, and know that, win or lose, we fought the good fight for them. Big cases are great, but there's nothing more satisfying for me than to represent an honest, hard-working person well."

Michelle Blaylock-Howser has been involved in the judicial system for over 12 years. She began her legal career with the law firm of Agee, Allen, Godwin, Morris and Laurenzi where she was paralegal to partner Lynn Agee and Susan Bradley. In 1998, she became employed as paralegal with the law office of Wilson and Bradley in the area of employment and personal injury law. In 1999, She accepted employment as a Judicial Assistant for the State of Tennessee under the Honorable Judge Don R. Ash and Honorable Judge J. Mark Rogers for 8 years. She worked full-time for the State Judiciary while attending law school full-time. She accepted employment as an associate with Greg Reed and Associates in 2007 where she practices in the areas of divorce, child custody, family law, juvenile, criminal defense and employment law

Ms. McKinnish graduated with a Bachelorâs Degree from the University of Tennessee and received her law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. While in law school, she received the award for Best Oral Advocate in 2003 and was named the Associate Chief Justice of the University of Memphis law school as Moot Court Board. Also while in law school Ms. McKinnish was a National Environmental Moot Court semi-finalist and completed an internship with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee, a clerkship in the Corporate Legal Division with Servicemaster, Inc. and a summer clerkship with The Bosch Law Firm, P.C., focusing on complex criminal defense litigation, including death penalty defense. Upon graduation she was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 2005.

Ms. McKinnish began her practice with Rice, Amundsen & Rogers, P.L.L.C., a boutique Domestic Relations firm located in Memphis, Tennessee, where she was a member of the Memphis Bar Association. Ms. McKinnish returned to the East Tennessee area to be closer to her family. Her primary practice areas include family law, juvenile law and adoptions. Ms. McKinnish is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association Family Law Section, American Inns of Court - Hamilton Burnett Order of the Barristers and the Knoxville Bar Association.