WANDA SOBIESKI
Attorney
The founder of Sobieski, Messer & Associates in 1993, Wanda Sobieski forged a reputation as one of Knoxville’s most aggressive and formidable legal advocates for families throughout East Tennessee.
Before creating our firm, Ms. Sobieski served as the very first female partner in the 100-year history of Baker Worthington Crossley Stansberry & Woolf (now Baker Donelson).
For almost three decades, she has been known as the lawyer clients need to hire for complex divorce and child custody cases, in addition to civil rights and appellate work.
Ms. Sobieski is also familiar to many as a vital part of the Knoxville legal, business, and philanthropic community—most notably known for her tireless advocacy to memorialize East Tennessee’s special role in the history of the movement for women’s suffrage in America. As founder of the Woman Suffrage Coalition, Ms. Sobieski is responsible for the women’s suffrage memorial statue that is featured prominently in downtown Knoxville’s Market Square and recognizes the women from Tennessee who played vital roles in securing the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution giving women the right to vote.
Known for developing novel approaches to difficult legal problems, Ms. Sobieski assists clients faced with issues that require a keen understanding of substantive and procedural law as well as the first-hand experience of representing clients going through divorce and other family law issues in Tennessee courts for over 25 years.
Ms. Sobieski is a founding member and past-president of the East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (ETLAW) and the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (TLAW). She received her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in 1969, master’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1974, and J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1982.
Ms. Sobieski is married to University of Tennessee law professor John Sobieski. She has three children, Daran, Alana, and Elise, and four grandchildren, Andrew, Bella, Lexi, and Chloe.
