About Us
K.O. Herston
A divorce is one of the most traumatic life events you’ll ever experience.
I know. My divorce hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was filled with anxiety. Where would I live? Would I survive financially? Those questions, and hundreds of others, consumed me.
I knew everything was about to change, but I didn’t know precisely what, and I didn’t know precisely how.
If I only knew then what I know now.
That I would be all right.
That I would be happier.
That in time, my life would be far better than before.
I eventually realized that one of the worst things I had ever experienced turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened.
If you’re reading this, the odds are you’re where I once was—anxious, afraid, and worried about all the unknowns.
You will get through this. This moment will pass. And you can emerge stronger, wiser, and better than before.
I understand what you’re going through, and I can help.
I’ve been practicing law in Knoxville since 1997, and my practice is devoted exclusively to family law.
I graduated from Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee College of Law.
I am a board-certified specialist in Family Trial Law.
I’m the author of Herston on Tennessee Family Law, which the American Bar Association has recognized as one of the top 100 legal blogs.
I regularly teach seminars to lawyers about family law. I’m certified as a family-law mediator and trained in collaborative divorce.
I serve as Vice Chair of the Executive Council of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Family Law Section and on the Executive Committee of the Hamilton Burnett American Inns of Court.
Our Team
Bay Loftis
Legal Assistant
Originally from quaint, historic Social Circle, Georgia, “Elizabeth” became “Bay” at age 11 when her family moved to East Tennessee. With a background in theatre, public speaking, music, and writing, Bay matriculated at Tennessee Wesleyan College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History. While at Tennessee Wesleyan, she was Editor of the literary magazine, her sorority’s VP of Philanthropy, Best Actress, Dean’s List, and several other such offices and awards.
After marrying her husband Wesley and starting a family, Bay was an award-winning ad copywriter, but she gave up all that glamour to become a full-time homemaker. During her fourteen-year tenure rearing children Emily and Woodrow, Bay was also a freelance writer/artist for magazines such as Memory Makers and Better Homes & Gardens Scrapbooks. She has appeared as an actress in plays at the Bijou, the Clarence Brown Theatre, and other theatres in town.
When she’s not running the office, Bay enjoys volunteering for WUOT (Knoxville’s National Public Radio station), walking her Welsh corgi Doris Daylily, visiting as many of Tennessee’s gorgeous rivers as possible, and teaching her Amazon parrot Cosmo to sing “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.”
Melody Durham
Senior Paralegal
Melody Durham was born in Knoxville but grew up in Texas. She returned to Tennessee for college and met her husband in Knoxville. Melody holds a Bachelor’s degree in History Education from Bryan College, where she was a Presidential Scholar, and as a James Madison Memorial Fellow, she earned her Master’s in U.S. History from the University of Tennessee. She taught history at the Christian Academy of Knoxville for ten years before coming to work at Herston Law Group in 2006. In 2009, she left to start her family and move with her husband as the Army sent him to Germany. In 2014, Melody returned to Herston Law Group as its paralegal, working remotely from her home in Ohio.
She and her husband are the proud parents of a long-awaited daughter and son. In any spare time she can find, she enjoys reading non-fiction, sipping coffee, and getting away for a rare date with her husband. After having been “dog-people” for years, the family adopted a huge black Maine Coon cat from their local shelter, and shortly thereafter, a tiny black cat showed up at their home and adopted them, so now they are enjoying being “cat-people.” Extended family is also very important to her, so Melody returns to Knoxville often to visit her parents, in-laws, sisters, and their families.