When I first met Margaret Held and her staff I knew I was at the right place. She is fierce! She will fight for you and win. I am so grateful to her because now I have a signed court order clearly defining visitation with my grandchild, which had previously been denied. I believe that without Margaret this would not have happened. Thank you, Margaret, for being such an amazing, caring person.

The entire team at Held Law Firm is absolutely amazing! I called in a few weeks ago not knowing what I could do about my situation. Not only did they take the time to speak with me but they made sure I understood everything they were telling me & even asked if I had any questions afterwards! If you’re looking for a law firm who truly cares & doesn’t just treat you as just another client..give them a call!!

Great law firm! Not only were the staff knowledgeable, professional, and helpful; they were very perceptive and compassionate in dealing with the nuances of my case. I highly recommend! They know the legalities and how to do their jobs well, and they provide individualized service based on their client's needs. Excellent!

Overall, I feel like Margaret and all the lawyers I met at Held Law firm are professional and very knowledgeable about divorce law. I was very satisfied with the professionalism, and timeliness of all appointments both in the office and court filings and court appointments. My assigned counsel went above and beyond trying to negotiate with opposing counsel on more than one occasion. For this, I am grateful. A couple things I feel Held Law firm could improve are; aggressively defending your positions to apposing counsel and billing. I felt during the overall process, opposing counsel was more aggressive and things seemed to always be “rounded” to their favor. I feel if my counsel was more aggressive in defending my stance I could have had a more favorable outcome on some of the terms. The opposing counsel in my case charged a flat rate while I was charged hourly for every email, phone call or any communication at all. If I had a legal question about my case I had to balance that with, is it worth spending $100 to ask? It put tremendous pressure on me financially while I didn’t feel like I had adequate access to legal expertise. In the end, I spent two and a half times more in legal fees than my ex did. I did not feel that was right. I also spent considerably more than the originally estimated cost.

Very unprofessional, extremely unorganized and could care less about her clients. Her only goal is to bill you as much as she can. STAY AWAY.

Margaret and her team are the first I've worked with who actually care about the outcome of my case. I've been through several attorneys who take my money and then are completely unresponsive. She's attentive and available to my needs as I have questions or as small issues pop up. She works hard to get the best outcome. To most lawyers, I've been a paycheck; one client of many. This is my family's future, and it's the only chance I have to make it right. With my entire family's future hanging in the balance, Margaret has given my case the attention and effort it deserves.

Margaret is a driven individual and go getter! She will bust her butt of for her clients! The staff at her firm are extremely welcoming, helpful, and will do anything to help you. Another great aspect of Held Law Firm is how comfortable and welcoming they are so you don't feel anxious. The atmosphere and vibe makes you feel right at home and so welcomed. This is the place to go!

Margaret Held runs what appears to be a chaotic establishment. She shows up to court late, without proper documents. Instead of admitting the documents aren't there, she acts as if the judge himself lost documents that were never filed. She rewrites laws to suit her own purpose. She fails to provide proper notice to opposing counsel on motions, pretending to send faxes and communications. When they do not appear she asserts that they have been "lost."

In post divorce litigation, I have had to negotiate against both Margaret Held and Hodges Doughty and Carson, as they both have served as opposing counsel for my ex husband over the years. Having dealt with both firms, I advise this: if you need a divorce lawyer, choose Hodges, not Held. Hodges were not on my side, but they comported themselves with professionalism, punctuality, and a respect for the law. These are three things that seem beyond the grasp of the Held firm.

Update: The Ex has now apparently fired the Held firm. Finally! We agree on something... ;)

wonderful people margaret is wonderful she really cares and goes way above and beyond

Melanie and her team at Held Law Firm were efficient and informative during my recent divorce settlement. Melanie was courteous and listened to my many questions. She seemed to be genuinely concerned about me and my situation and had good suggestions. She represented me professionally in the proceedings. It would be easy for me to recommend her to someone needing similar help.

Melanie and her team made a stressful process so easy and I can’t express enough how much that means to me. Very professional, extremely reasonable with fees, and most of all they truly care about their clients. I highly recommend!

Did exactly what we needed in a very professional manner. She was very efficient, knowledgeable, fair minded and provided this service pro-bono to the East Tennessee Community Design Center. With much appreciation Duane Grieve, ETCDC Executive Director

Held Law Firm goes above and beyond with their clients. Margaret has represented us in several cases over the years and each time we felt our case was handled with utmost importance, expertise and completeness. Kudos to this law firm for being straight up with their clients - hard to come by these days!

They Will get the job done

First taking my $300 consult fee before asking my name. I was quoted a price for uncontested divorce and at the end of consult was told that quote was wrong and the retainer would be $1000 more. I asked for my $300 back and they told me no way. If I had known they were not going to honor their quote I would have never gone there. In my opinion, the worst! Call Paige Coleman, she's awesome!

After a lengthy custody battle, she took the reins and ended the dispute succeeding in winning what was best for my son. She new the fight was going to be tough but smiled and said not to worry.

$300 consultation fee. While it does apply to the retainer if you hire them they keep it if you don't hire them. Did not use this office because there are several others with free consultations.

She told me that she would handle everything with my child custody matter. $5000.00 later when I missed my appointment she dropped me and kept all but $1200.00. The rest she said was for legal fees and paper work! That was every penny I had to get my family back and she ruined that for me. I have a severe case of dementia from stokes and major brain surgery which causes confusion and memory loss and the appointment slipped my mind. She knew all this and still did me dirty. Don't recommend this lawyer for anyone fighting for their families.

Simply The Best
My wife and I hired the Held law firm for a highly contested child custody case. The Held law firm is staffed with only the best and they will fight for you in court. They cleaned up a mess made by our previous attorney, and got our case moving forward. Margaret has the experience and skills to get you the best results possible.
Margaret has a way of taking charge of situations and not letting things just happen. She is a real fighter in the court room. My wife’s ex tried to block documents, lower child support, and delay the trial. We got the documents, child support got raised, the trial date didn’t change and Margaret actually got them to settle before the trial. Hire them, you won’t be disappointed.

Simply the best in Knoxville. I very highly recommend them.

Did an amazing job with my divorce! Luke and Margaret were so great to keep me up to date on where we were in my case, and got me exactly what I needed (and then some!) regarding my child support and custody. I really appreciated that they were so responsive to my needs, and made sure that I had realistic expectations. There were no surprises here. They didn't let my ex push me around and were there for me every step of the way, always making time to explain to me what was going on and the reasoning behind every move we made. Fantastic support staff as well, always welcoming and ready to listen! Worth every penny!

My divorce case had the potential to be unpleasant and stressful (understatement)and both were realized. Fortunately, I retained Luke Shipley as my attorney. After our consultation I was at ease with what I was facing. He was realistic in his assessment of the case and what I could expect, which proved to be correct. He was not afraid to tell me what I needed to hear. I really appreciated his honesty.

This was not just Luke; he had a great team to support him. Becca helped me to sort thru the mountain of paperwork that was requested by the opposing attorney. Trust me, there were trees harmed in this process. Tessa provided me monthly itemized statements of my account which helped me to budget and to keep my trust fund at the required level. In fact, all the members of the firm will be there to support you.

Divorce is not pleasant but Luke and the team helped me thru it. They helped me put my “after divorce life” into perspective. Thank You All!!

The Held Law Firm team have a great Family Law practice, including divorce, custody, child support and other fields of practice. I would not look for another law firm to handle any of my attorney needs. I trust the team at Held Law Firm. They are very knowledgable of the law.

I had a positive experience with the team at Held Law. Always quick to respond to my questions & encouraging me when I was dragging my feet. Kind & respectful of my wishes & enclusive in the process. I even recieved money back to me. Fair Firm!

Please learn from my mistake, do NOT hire this lawyer. She told me everything I wanted to hear at a very vulnerable time. I continued to shovel money every few weeks, as she would create bogus charges to eat it all up. It was never enough and there was nothing to show for all the money I was sending. She never told me I would be charged for emails and encouraged them, and she charged the same for emails as a face to face visit. To this day I did not receive a dime from the divorce. She and her firm made many costly mistakes which I am now paying the price. I filed my divorce papers with Ms. Held weeks before my husband yet, my papers were filed at the courthouse 15 minutes before my ex-husbands. She had many charges and misrepresented fees. She did not even show up in court once with me. Then when I finally after paying $10,000, I could not immediately replenish the $1500 which must be in escrow at all times(only to be stolen for made up charges). On the phone she said not to worry and pay as I could on the escrow(my balance was zero and I owed nothing at the time). If I called about the bill, I would get charged for the call. Within the month, she closed my account and withdrew from the case due to failure to pay escrow in full. And after all that continued to send me a bill for "mailing the certified letter" for $190, AFTER SHE WITHDREW FROM THE CASE and just before Child support Court. I had to represent myself in Child support court. I felt like I had been robbed and violated, the last thing you need during a critical time. I believe this woman prays on the vulnerable and is as crooked as they come. Don't believe the website. Check out the accredited Lawyer sites and ask friends for referrals. Believe me it saves you in the long run not to rush into a lawyer.