~ from the Knoxville Bar Association
The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) held its Annual Meeting on Friday, December 12, 2025. The president’s gavel was passed from Jonathan Cooper to Knoxville attorney Rachel Park Hurt.
Hurt is a member of the Knoxville law firm Arnett, Baker, Draper & Hagood, LLP.
Outgoing President Cooper presented his President’s Awards to KBA Professionalism Committee Co-Chairs James Stovall and Chancellor John Weaver, and to KBA Executive Director Tasha Blakney.
In her remarks, incoming President Hurt congratulated Cooper on a successful year and acknowledged the achievements of the organization under his leadership. Hurt also spoke of her goals for the upcoming year, including continuing the tradition of professionalism and camaraderie among the members of the Knoxville legal community.
During the meeting, the following KBA members were elected as officers for 2026:
President Elect – Ursula Bailey, Law Office of Ursula Bailey
Treasurer – Cathy Shuck, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
Secretary—M. Samantha Parris, Law Office of Samantha Parris
The membership elected the following KBA members to four open positions on the Board of
Governors:
Joshua D. Hedrick, Knox Defense
Allison Jackson, Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, P.C.
Matthew R. Lyon, Lincoln Memorial University – Duncan School of Law
Shannon van Tol, Anderson & van Tol PLLC
Knoxville attorney Reggie E. Keaton was presented the KBA’s highest award, the prestigious Governors’ Award, which is given annually to a lawyer whose peers believe has brought distinction and honor to the legal profession. Keaton, a past president of the Knoxville Bar Association, has distinguished himself with an exceptional career of service to the bar and the community. He is a member of the Frantz, McConnell & Seymour law firm.
In a moving presentation, Judge Timothy Conner presented the Courage in the Face of Adversity Award to KBA member Dana C. Holloway.
The Don Paine Lawyer Legacy Award was presented to Knoxville attorney William D. Vines, III. A founding member of the firm Butler, Vines & Babb, PLLC, Vines was recognized for his longstanding
contributions and exemplary legal scholarship.
The KBA’s award for outstanding legal writing was presented to Robbie Pryor, a Knoxville attorney practicing with Pryor, Priest, Harber, Floyd, Coffey & Gillman, who has been an active writer for the KBA’s Publications Committee since 2009.
It was announced that Courteney Barnes-Anderson became President of the Knoxville Barristers, the Young Lawyers Division of the KBA, at the elections on December 10. The following were also elected as Barristers Officers: Isaac Westling, Vice President; Elle Shipley as Secretary/Treasurer; and Bethany Wilson and Andrew York, Members-at-Large. It was also announced that Miranda Goodwin and Bridget Pyman, Co-Chairs of the Volunteer Breakfast Committee, were presented with the Barristers’ President’s Award for 2025.
About KBA President Rachel Park Hurt
Rachel Park Hurt is a member of the Knoxville firm Arnett, Baker, Draper & Hagood, LLP, where she focuses her practice on insurance defense, healthcare liability defense, and healthcare regulation. A frequent writer and speaker, Ms. Hurt has also served as an adjunct law professor, as a commissioner on the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education, and as an interviewer for the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she was a nationally recognized player for the Syracuse Softball team. She additionally earned her Master’s in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Ms. Hurt
graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2007. Her husband, Adlai, is employed by the University of Tennessee, and they have two young children who keep them busy in their schools and in the community.
About the Knoxville Bar Association
The Knoxville Bar Association is a non-profit corporation organized to work for the improvement and increased effectiveness of the legal profession and the administration of justice. The association, which has more than 2,000 members, offers continuing legal education and service to the community through programs such as the Lawyer Referral & Information Service and Legal Advice Clinics. Additional public service information may be found at the association’s website at www.knoxbar.org.
