Jake Knight followed a different kind of career path before becoming an attorney.
Knight, who previously worked for the Reynolds Law Firm in Fort Scott since 2018, opened his own law office in Iola in early April.
“I decided to go solo.”
Knight specializes in estate and trust administration, estate planning, civil litigation, personal injury work and real estate transactions.
He shares office space with Iola attorney Chuck Apt at 218 South St.
“I had worked with Chuck before, and he was glad to offer me some space here,” Knight said. “We’re separate firms, but we share office space, secretaries, bookkeeping.”
Moving to Iola significantly cut Knight’s daily commute time. He and wife Jennelle and their two sons live in Gas.
The world of law wasn’t necessarily in Knight’s plans as he progressed through college at Pittsburg State University.
The Erie native was instead focused on earning a degree in construction engineering, and was less than six months from graduation when a couple of factors led him to decide to switch courses.
“I’d had a little bit of interest in law when I was in high school, but didn’t really think much about it,” Knight said. “But in my last six months of undergrad, I sat in on a guest lecture, and it renewed my interest.
The job market played a role as well.
“I wasn’t finding many jobs as a construction engineer. I was wanting something more on the engineering side, and the companies that were hiring out of that program wanted things like superintendents and construction managers.”
As graduation day neared, Knight began seeking counsel with various advisers, “and I started connecting the dots of how a construction degree and a law degree could open doors.”
With his new path in tow, Knight understood he would have to take some time to prepare for a law school admission test (LSAT), “which meant I was either gonna have to go to work or go to school some more.”
He landed a teaching assistant position at PSU, which allowed him to continue his pursuit of a master’s degree while he studied for his LSAT.
A year later, with both accomplished, Knight was a law school student at the University of Tulsa. One year later, he was a transfer student at the University of Washburn, where he completed his law degree.
