Our Team
Zachary B. Tenry
Zachary B. Tenry
ZACHARY B. TENRY joined Hotz and Associates, P.C., as the head of our litigation department in 2018. A Tennessee native, Zach grew up in Knoxville and received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Tennessee.
Prior to joining the firm, Zach spent the first part of his career with a prominent insurance defense firm in Knoxville. He went on to open his own law firm, where he focused his practice on representing those injured in accidents.
Throughout his career, Zach has practiced as a trial attorney across Tennessee in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, construction, products liability, consumer protection and contract. Zach has represented multiple national, state and local insurance companies and their insureds, both in the litigation context and with matters of coverage and loss prevention. Zach has also represented real estate brokers, appraisers and auctioneers in courts across the state and before various professional responsibility commissions.
Zach is a member of the Tennessee and Knoxville Bar Associations and is licensed to practice in all Tennessee state and federal courts. Zach has also been admitted to represent numerous clients in matters outside of Tennessee.
ALLISON HOTZ ANKROM
ALLISON HOTZ ANKROM
ALLISON HOTZ ANKROM was born and raised in Knoxville. After graduating from West High School in 2005, Allison went across the country to the sunny University of Arizona. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Allison moved back to Knoxville and began her legal career as receptionist, working for her father at Bill Hotz & Associates. Over the next 5 years she worked her way up from receptionist to litigation paralegal, and worked every job in-between. Her passion for advocacy, along with encouragement from family and fellow staff, drove her to attend Law School. Allison is a Dean’s List graduate from LMU Law and has taken over the firm for her father. She practices family, juvenile, and criminal law.
Allison and her husband Jake enjoy UT football, being on the lake, and exploring all the beauty that Knoxville has to offer. They welcomed their daughter, Ruthie in October of 2022.
STEPHANIE HELTON
STEPHANIE HELTON
STEPHANIE HELTON joined our firm in June 2007. She is our senior paralegal and office manager. She was born and raised in Knoxville. After graduating from Carter High School, she thought she wanted to pursue a career in the medical field. One bad day in human anatomy lab and Stephanie decided the legal field might be a better choice for her. After completing the Paralegal Program at Pellissippi State, she began her legal career with Hogan & Hogan, working in insurance defense. She now has more than 29 years of legal experience in everything from insurance defense, corporate law, labor law, personal injury and workers’ compensation. Stephanie and her husband Lance have been married 28 years and have a son, Landon, who is a pilot. Stephanie’s other child has four legs and is our firm mascot, Miss Ripley. When she isn’t keeping this place running smoothly, she loves spending time with family, New York Yankees baseball and exploring new places to travel.
APRIL VITTETOE
APRIL VITTETOE
Of Counsel
BILL HOTZ
BILL HOTZ
Bill Hotz was born in Santa Monica, California, growing up blocks from Beverly Hills and the Pacific Ocean. He attended high school with the stars, including Bonnie Raitt and many others. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara and received his law degree from Santa Clara University. After hitchhiking the world (Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, London, Tunis, New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston) for nearly a year, Bill finally found home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Bill has been practicing law in Knoxville for more than 35 years. He is the founding father of Hotz and Associates, a local firm that has obtained tens of millions of dollars in compensation for injury victims in the greater Knoxville area.
GARY ADKINS
GARY ADKINS
Gary Adkins was born and raised in Knoxville. After graduating from Central High School, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee, majoring in Mass Communications. Gary’s college education was interrupted by military duty. He served in the U.S. Navy as a journalist in Australia.
After completing his military obligation, Gary returned to UT and obtained his degree in Communications. For the following 10 years, he worked in radio and advertising in the Knoxville area. In addition to working for WOKI-FM and other area radio stations, he also booked and promoted large arena concerts for bands such as Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Blue Oyster Cult and others.
In 1982 Gary decided he was probably having too much fun and went back to school to pursue a law degree. He graduated with Honors from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1985. He has been practicing law in East Tennessee ever since. His practice has been primarily limited to representing people against big insurance and big business. All his life he has enjoyed sticking it to the man.
Gary has two sons, Greg (and wife Jessica) and Adam. He also has two wonderful grandchildren, Connor and Claire.
Mascots
RIPLEY HELTON
RIPLEY HELTON
RIPLEY HELTON who is formally known as Katons Ripley’s Believe It or Not, is a 7-year-old English Labrador Retriever who has been coming to work with her mom, our office manager, since she was 8 weeks old. She is truly a part of our family. She loves her daily routine of making all her rounds to get butt rubs and treats from the staff. She still loves playing in boxes and raiding the occasional trash can to see what she can find. She is very protective of her work family. She also loves after afternoon naps and will allow you the occasional snuggle when you are having a bad day.