The Flying Pig
Held Law Firm’s Online Hub
At Held Law Firm, we are proud to provide family law representation to individuals and families throughout Knoxville as well as community outreach to enhance the lives of everyone in the area. We have created The Flying Pig, based on our mascot, as a way to communicate with you and the rest of the community about our firm, breaking news, and our participation in the community.
Here you will find:
- Developing information about our firm, its accomplishments, and news articles we have been featured in
- Information about our beloved interns
- Information about our community involvement and events
- Other involvements that our firm and staff participate in
- Helpful blogs about family law topics and the latest news involving this practice area
Why the “Flying Pig?”
The flying pig represents the story behind our founding attorney’s introduction into the legal field. As a young and pregnant law student, Attorney Margaret Held met openly sexist resistance from professors and other students. These individuals thought she was out of line for wanting to pursue her education and career due to her “condition” and future responsibilities as a parent. When she was being told she needed to quit law school and get her priorities “clear,” she rebelled by saying she would quit law school “when pigs fly.” She went on to prove the naysayers wrong, graduating and starting the successful practice she manages today.
Margaret never gave up her dream and pursued her path with conviction, demonstrating the quality of the representation, leadership, and determination you will find at Held Law Firm.
Testimonials
Hear About Former Clients' Experiences
At Held Law Firm, your satisfaction is our priority! See for yourself what our clients have to say about working with us.
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After being married for over 40 years, I was at a point in my life that I no longer wanted to take care of every aspect of being in that situation. I felt it was time for me to start thinking more about my life and how I wanted to spend my remaining time that I have left. It was time for me to take care of ME. Thru a friend, I talked to a lady that works in family court and knows a lot about these matters. She gave me a list of 3 lawyers and Melanie's was the first on her list. I did talk to all 3 of them and Melanie was the one I felt the most comfortable with. She was very understanding of my situation and was easy to talk to. She explained things and answered my questions in ways that were easy to understand. My husband tried his best to talk me out of the divorce and tried to ignore the situation all together. With Melanie's help, I kept things moving along and was able to the divorce. Since he didn't contest any aspects of the divorce, Melanie made sure all my desires and needs were met and granted by the judge. She is very professional and responds in a timely manner. She also is a very nice person with a good sense of humor. I highly recommend Melanie and the staff of Held Law Firm. C. White- C. White
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We live in California and needed a law firm to help us get custody of our 2 young (9 and 12 yo) grand nephews after their mother passed away. Held Law Firm, Chelsea and Abigail, in particular were our warriors! They did not give us false hope and kept things in perspective though out the entire process. We had to fight for those boys and that's where the warrior part comes into play. The attorneys and support staff are really amazing! Keeping us informed and helping us to stay on task. It was difficult to be so far away but we finally went to court and we have been granted custody. WARRIORS! I highly recommend Held Law Firm! TB Northern California- TB Northern California
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Held law firm went above and beyond to help me with a case they don't normally do. I appreciate how dedicated they are to helping make sure the case goes well. I couldn't have had a better attorney helping me close my mom's estate. Thank you for all your hard work.- J.A.
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Newer to the Knoxville area and looking for a law firm to help us set up our will. Melanie Hogg, with Held Law Firm, came highly recommended and have to say the reviews were right. Melanie was responsive, patent with all our questions, and expertly walked us through getting all the documents we needed in order. Felt like we were in great hands with someone with lots of experience in this area of law. Would definitely recommend you reach out to Held Law Firm for all your legal needs and if you have the pleasure of working with Melanie you won't be disappointed.- A. Witte
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Margaret and her staff make you feel very welcome from the beginning. Everyone in the office makes a difficult process a lot easier to go through. She and her staff are kind, thoughtful, patient, brilliant, and incredibly good at what you hire them to do! I highly recommend Held Law Firm!- J.W.
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After interviewing almost every attorney in downtown Knoxville and finding them to minimize and plan to use a cookie cutter approach to my case I was deeply relieved to find Held Law Firm. They are the only legal team in the entire East Tennessee area that is attuned to the dire circumstances that are unique to divorcing a person with unresolved mental health issues. Trust me, I looked really hard. The team has been unfailingly supportive as they were dragged into the DCS allegations and custody drama that is too common when a diagnosed narcissist is a factor. Margaret Held and Chelsea Price even personally came to the scene of a mid divorce homicide attempt to speak directly with officers. I wouldn’t have gotten a badly needed Order of Protection without Held Law Firm being aggressive and taking my defense personally. Honestly, you cannot defend yourself from a narcissist without help. You cannot defend yourself against agencies without help. Held Law is local, women-owned, experienced, diverse, and supportive of your civil rights to their last breath. They are the team you need.- L. F.
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Margaret Held was excellent help with obtaining information on my divorce. She knew exactly what she was talking about and I feel confident that they are one of the best lawyer offices in Knoxville!- K. M.
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Short Version: Melanie and Chelsea are a force to be reckoned with and thank God they were on my side. Do yourself a favor and go with them. **Worth the read if you are searching for a Lawyer** Long Version: Melanie: I usually dread dealing with lawyers because of some bad experiences that I have had in the past. We have been taken advantage of, judged, and left with incomplete service before, and it is enough to leave a bad taste in anyone mouth when it concerns the legal system and lawyers in general. Then one day I had a trusted friend tell me about how they (and their friends) had great luck out of Held Law Firm. As much as I was nervous, I reached out to them, and to my surprise, a lovely, kind voice picked up the phone and listened to all my questions and got a consultation scheduled. I had dealt with a bunch of lawyers and never once did i see anything near the level of professionalism I experienced with Melanie. She was polite, kind, sympathetic, and made me feel welcome. We decided to go through with her, and she guided us each step of the way and the pricing was reasonable and we didn't feel any pressure at all. Melanie was so professional and organized that it was a landslide victory. -Melanie. You are awesome! Thank you so much! Chelsea: We had a 2 kid step-parent-adoption that needed to be done and we obviously were going back to Held because of the 10/10 service. Melanie suggested (Not forced, she said she could take the case if we really wanted to stay with her. They are NEVER pushy) that we go through Chelsea because she was very experienced and literally just got done with a very similar case. I took her advice, because I trust her. We got the pleasure to sit down and talk with Chelsea who was eager to work with us and help us get our problem fixed. She (like Melanie) was so wonderful to work with. She was so sweet to us and our children. She is very well spoken and gave us very clear instructions and worked with us every step of the way. I was so scared that the adoption wouldn't go through, and my kids wouldn't be safe, even though she was reassuring us the entire time. The entire thing went just like she said it would from day one. My gosh I have never seen a court case so one sided. She was so insanely organized that she had papers and forms ready to go 5 steps ahead of time. The judge was even impressed and complimented her for "really being on top of everything." Her foresight saved us from 2 more court appointments and 6 months of waiting. To beat it all this entire court session only lasted for about 10 minuted after we went up. I thank GOD that I have had Held Law Firm in my time of need. Who knows what would have happened with my kids if I didn't. My kids have been bragging to everyone that will listed about their new names. -Chelsea, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!- R. F.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGNS
At Held Law Firm, we are committed to bringing lasting impact and change to our local communities. We've hired on a great team of law students to grow in their practice and continue to make lasting impacts to our communities. It's the work we are the most proud of.
Here's a list of some of the projects we've done in the past:
South Knoxville Elementary Student Council Inauguration – Margaret Held, 2022. This event was Held at Historic Blount Mansion.
LGBTQ+ Family Law Seminar – Margaret Held, Chelsea Price, and Melanie Hogg, 2022. We held this seminar at South Press Coffee and provided information on how to protect your family from discrimination.
William Blount Mansion Hands On History Project – Margaret Held, 2021.
Dasha Lundy for County Commission – Margaret Held, 2020. We helped get Dasha Lundy elected to county commission.
Relative Care Givers Support Group – Chelsea Price, 2020. We helped set up a non-profit organization to help people who provide foster care to their relative’s kids.
Literacy Project – Faith Held, 2019. We set up a library in the Juvenile Detention Center curated by the kids. Each child gets to take home a book when they leave and a copy is donated to the center library in their name.
Trans Name Change Project – Guy Tustin, 2019. Guy and Faith organized a name change clinic targeting trans youth and worked with local Chancery Court re: making the process less intimidating and more welcoming to applicants for name changes.
Collaborative Law Project –Melanie Hogg, 2019. Melanie helped introduce collaborative law as an alternative to contested litigation in Knoxville.
Food Stamp Work Requirement Reform Project – Rhys Bowen Tatum, 2018. Rhys continued work he began at the Tennessee Justice Center to design a training for human services workers regarding work requirements and food stamp eligibility.
Freedom of Religion in School- Margaret Held, 2004. Margaret litigated and organized to end shipping Union County schoolchildren to 3 day long tent revivals every spring.
Bob Becker for City Council- Margaret Held, 2001. We helped get Bob Becker elected to Knoxville City Council.
Neighborhood Reinvestment Project- Margaret Held, 2000. Margaret helped start several non-profit organizations and dozens of private businesses in Knoxville’s poor neighborhoods.
Citizens for Police Review (PARC) - Margaret Held, 2002. Margaret organized faith and civic leaders to protest the killing of black men in police custody and drafted the ordinance for the Police Advisory and Review Commission, an independent police review body.
Knox Recall- Margaret Held, 1998. Margaret co-organized and represented organization that fought for recall of Knoxville mayor after alleged violations of sunshine laws and to purge and reform the voter roles.
Annie Selwyn Award: Jobs for Domestic Violence Survivors- Margaret Held, 1998. Margaret received award for helping design programs to help domestic violence victims attempting to achieve financial independence from their abusers.
Economic Literacy Project- Margaret Held, 1997. Margaret co-organized series of workshops to educate public over use of government funded economic development incentives to attract jobs in low income neighborhoods.
Home Based Business Project- Margaret Held, 1995. Margaret convinced the local housing authority to allow approved home based businesses to operate in public housing.
Areas of Practice
Over 50 Years of Combined Experience in Family Law
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