Scott E. Knox Attorney at Law

01/09/2026

Big news for the law firm: I'm retired! The firm will carry on with Amberly Newberry taking over. She's been here for over a decade and is licensed in Kentucky and Ohio. So clients can call the same number and still find paralegal Tiesha Brown and lawyer Amberly! I'm still coming in to finish cases I am already handling (mainly probate estates and Social Security Disability/SSI cases). And I'll still be active in the community!

My heart is full of appreciation for all the people who have welcomed me into their lives to help them over the years. I can't count the number of times a client left my office, the door closed, and I said, "I love my clients!" I've learned so much about compassion, integrity, fortitude, and courage from my clients, transgender, gay, le***an, bis*xual, q***r, young, old, straight, physically/mentally challenged, myriad races and religions, you name it. As the song says, "I've been changed for the good."

11/10/2025

Kim Davis's hateful attempt to overturn same-s*x marriage was rejected by SCOTUS today. This has caused a lot of stress to so many of my clients and friends. I hope she and her ilk find other hobbies besides minding other people's business.

10/29/2025

I love the Volunteer Lawyers Project! This is me at one of its Wills Clinics, where we prepare estate planning documents for people who otherwise would not be able to afford them. They're at https://vlpcincinnati.org if you need them!

07/02/2025

Remember your fur babies in your estate planning.

What is going to happen to your cat (or cats!) when you die? This isn’t the most enjoyable thing to think about, but it is important to have a plan. Be it tomorrow or 30 years from now, your pets will need money to support their needs and a person to provide care once you […]

05/15/2025

I’m so proud of Amberly! We have met many wonderful clients working with the Volunteer Lawyers Program.

05/02/2025

I'm so proud of my Associate, Amberly Newberry-Borchers, for being honored by the Cincinnati Bar Association as the Volunteer Lawyer of the Year! She's taken 30 cases for free since 2020! (I was honored with the same award 11 years ago!)

03/04/2025

I handle a lot of Social Security Disability and SSI appeals and am saddened to read of the cuts Trump is making to SSA staff. They have needed *more* workers for years. Despite having motivated, smart employees, SSA often has so few people that the phones go unanswered. People calling are often unable to work, down to their last dollar, and trying to get payments started. So cruel to make matters worse for them. A senior SSA official explained: “The public is going to suffer terribly as a result of this. Local field offices will close, hold times will increase, and people will be sicker, hungry, or die when checks don't arrive or a disability hearing is delayed just one month too late.”

02/11/2025

Update on the chaos surrounding passports for transgender citizens. This is from a transgender legal blog:

“All,

A longtime client who is now living in San Francisco had an X gender marker on their passport (originally F). In December they requested, via expedited service, that the passport be renewed and that the gender marker be changed to M. They got no response through last week so went to the passport office today. Here is what they shared with me:

I was just informed by the manager at the SF Passport Office that a directive was sent on Sunday stating that if you have ever had a passport in another gender marker (X not included), they will only issue a new passport to you with whatever your original passport says (not the birth certificate you produce) and in order to get that I also had to write a statement saying the I asked for the F marker.

I wrote a statement but added that I had no choice in the matter if I wanted a passport at all.

They were wildly unorganized and could not produce anything in writing for me. “

01/30/2025

I was honored to be on the panel for a discussion of "Chasing Diversity in the Law", put on by the Salmon P. Chase College of Law Student Bar Association, a very timely DEI discussion that included attorney Jada Colon, Chase law professor Sharlene Graham, Hamilton County Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas, and Kentucky Supreme Court Justices Pamela R. Goodwine and Michelle Keller. It was a wonderful program that broadened my insight into the importance of promoting DEI!

01/23/2025

I just found out from a trans legal blog I'm on that applications to correct gender markers on Social Security Administration records and passports are no longer being accepted. This is a cruel step that will cause disruption and safety concerns for transgender people who want their identification to be consistent. I will monitor the developments and post any changes.
Update 2/1/25: I've read that Social Security is still correcting gender markers in their records. No change with Passport gender marker corrections being denied.
Update 2/2/25: in the ongoing chaos and hatefulness that is he trump administration, there is now an “emergency order “that Social Security will not process gender ID changes for transgender people. I will post a link explaining it below. I understand that bureaucracies have unique definitions of everything, but I cannot conceive of how denying transgender people the documentation consistent with who they are was an emergency. 

"Effective immediately, we can no longer process changes to the s*x field."

01/22/2025

Time to vote in CityBeat Best of Cincinnati! If you'd like to vote for me, here's the link: https://vote.citybeat.com/shops-and-services/lawyer-individual

You need to vote in at least 20 categories, and can apparently vote once per day. (Which seems odd.) Voting is open through January 26.

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01/22/2025