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Bill Lockett
922-0050

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About Bill....

Bill Lockett was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from West High School in 1972.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee in 1976, with a double major in history and political science.  Bill graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1982, where he was an Associate Editor of the Cumberland Law Review, a Justice on the Moot Court Board, President of the Tennessee Student Bar Association, and selected for membership in the Order of Barristers honorary society.  Bill graduated in the top thirteen percent of his law school class.   

Because of his academic achievements, Bill was chosen to serve a one year clerkship with Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Ray L. Brock, Jr. in Nashville.  At the conclusion of his clerkship, Bill returned home to Knoxville and began the private practice of law in 1983 with Heiskell, Donelson, Bearman, Adams, Williams and Kirsch (now known as Baker, Donelson).   

Since 1987, Bill has practiced law with Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley, P.C., where he serves on the Board of Directors and is a Vice President. 

Bill is a civil trial lawyer and has represented Fortune 500 companies in class action complex multi-district litigation as well as local folks in small claims court.  Bill has represented clients in wrongful death products liability and medical malpractice cases, banking and contract disputes, class actions, discrimination cases on the basis of race, gender, age, disability, pregnancy and religion, jail overcrowding and ERISA cases.  In 2003, Bill co-authored a chapter on Age Discrimination In Employee Benefits in a nationally recognized book on ERISA Litigation. 

 For several years, Bill has been a lecturer at the University of Tennessee on business and professional communications, teaching group problem solving and leadership skills.  In the Spring of 2007, Bill was an ad hoc Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law, teaching a course in pre-trial litigation.   

Bill served on the Board of Directors of the Knoxville Legal Aid Society during its transition to Legal Aid of East Tennessee.  By appointment of the Tennessee Supreme Court, he serves as a hearing officer for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility.   

Bill is active in the Boy Scouts of America, having served as a volunteer adult leader for two troops, and is currently serving as a District Commissioner for one of the ten districts in the Great Smoky Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America. 

Bill and his wife of 22 years, Dawn, live in Halls with their two sons, Trent, 18, and Stephen, 9.  They are members of Temple Baptist Church in Powell.

Three Reasons to Vote for Bill...

1. EXPERIENCE.  By education and career experience, Bill Lockett is perhaps the most qualified individual to ever seek the office of Knox County Law Director.  His academic credentials are first rate and for 24 years he has successfully represented Fortune 500 corporations and individuals against Fortune 500 corporations.  He has literally tried hundreds of cases in both state and federal courts.  His experience is second to none.

2. LEADERSHIP.  The direction of Knox County government needs to be turned around and the best way to accomplish that is new leadership.  The Knox County Law Director is called upon to counsel and advise every officer and department in Knox County government.  The person who holds the office must be free of political entanglements with other factions or cliques in county government that might influence the legal advice given.  Bill Locket will tell it like it is!  His allegiance will be to the people of Knox County because they are Knox County government.

3. COMMITMENT.  Bill Lockett is committed to making sure that the governing process be transparent and open.  He has spoken out strongly against efforts by some to weaken the Open Meetings Act, known as the Sunshine Law, and will continue to do so.  The citizens of Knox County have a right to know what decisions are being made and why!  Bill Lockett’s commitment to honest and open government is reflected in his pledge to the people of Knox County that he will not have family members work in the Law Director’s office, that he will be the only member of his family working for or being paid by Knox County, and that he will make decisions based on the law, not politics.