2023 Up & Coming Awards: Keaton G. Knott, 34

Partner, Franke Schultz & Mullen, P.C., Kansas City

Practice areas: Insurance defense litigation

Law school: UMKC

Keaton G. Knott can define his favorite moments as an attorney easily.

“Resolving cases for appreciative clients is the best reminder that our work has some meaning to it,” said the 34-year-old partner at Franke Schultz & Mullen. “Proving doubters wrong and believers right is the best motivation to keep doing so.”

Knott was program editor for the Urban Lawyer and a Law Review staff member before graduating cum laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A CALI award winner in the area of debtor-creditor rights, Knott also possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in architectural engineering from the University of Kansas and now manages a thriving insurance defense litigation practice at his current firm.

What is something that would surprise people about you?
How much I like going to Lowes but how inept I am at home improvement. It’s pretty ironic.

What inspired you to get involved in the legal profession?

My grandfather, his stories about practicing law in rural Missouri in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and a curiosity that’s satisfied by reading and writing.

What is the best career advice you have received? 

Find someone to look up to professionally and personally and, if you’re lucky, they will take an interest in seeing you succeed. It raises your intellectual potential and gives you an opportunity that you’d never otherwise have.

What is your favorite thing to do away from work?

Hanging at home with family and friends wins in a landslide. Golf is a distant second with skiing and eating fondue tying for third.

What is your biggest accomplishment this year?

Having the Family Court decline the termination of parental rights for a father I represented at trial. The justifications for bringing the TPR case were not appropriate and the result was a huge emotional relief for the father. It was also great reassurance that, at the end of the day, statutes and case law matter far more than loud argument.