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.
