By Tim Unruh
Typical work days at Kyler Knobbe’s Cimarron law practice include reminiscing life in southwest Kansas with clients, while also protecting their financial legacies.
“I’m into my second and third generations of families, and I like what I do,” said the attorney who has practiced law 51 years in Cimarron.
The dozens of folks — customers — who hale primarily from multiple southwest Kansas communities, represent much more than an income to the 75-year-old lawyer.
“They are friends and family. That’s my social life. We talk about our kids and their kids,” Knobbe said, along with revocable trusts, estate planning, limited liability companies, and succession planning, just to name a few legal subjects.
Lately, however, a harsh reality has been gnawing at the Spearville native. It worsened about five years back when a young couple asked him about establishing a will and trust for minor children.
“I did that and told them to come back in 20 years when the minor children are grown and we would do it differently. Then I thought ‘I might not be here in 20 years.’ I did the same thing for their grandparents and parents,” Knobbe said.
After some serious contemplation, he hatched a plan to conquer Father Time, or at least hold him off for awhile longer.
“I’m concerned with two things,” Knobbe said. “This office needs to stay open for my people, and I need a younger lawyer in here.”
He’s not planning to retire anytime soon, but serving his flock is paramount, and the solution is someone with more years of service to factor in.
That’s not easy when youth out-migration is so prominent in rural Kansas, along with a big shortage of lawyers.
But it’s not impossible, and Knobbe can prove it.
After some searching, and a bit of imagination and cooperation with another law firm, he found a perfect fit in Paige Harding, 25, of nearby Dodge City.
“She graduated from Washburn University (Topeka) and passed the bar (examination),” Knobbe said. “I can tell people I’ve got somebody here who wants to be here, and I’m excited about that.”
All true, said the young attorney who is living and working in Dodge City as part of the Salina-based Kennedy Berkley law firm, where she interned for one summer.
Starting Nov. 11, Harding will also work two days at week in Knobbe Law Office, which is now officially affiliated with Kennedy Berkley.
It lifted some burden from the shoulders of the still energetic, but aging lawyer.
“These are people I’ve represented forever, and finally, I’ve found a lawyer who grew up in western Kansas,” Knobbe said.
It’s a win-win for sure, because the arrangement also solidified young Harding’s life goals.
“I always knew I wanted to return to Dodge City. I am probably more unique in that way. I feel like I had a storybook childhood,” said Harding, who grew up on a farm in rural Ford County.
Despite an age difference, Knobbe can relate to Harding’s background. He, too, grew up around farming, but as a Spearville Pirate (they’re now the Lancers). Knobbe was active in sports.
“I was the starting point guard in basketball as a freshman and played pitcher and first base in baseball, sometimes right field,” he said. “After that, I got stuck in the custom cutting field. That ruined my baseball career.”
Graduating high school in 1967, Knobbe attended Dodge City Junior College and St. Mary of the Plains College, then Washburn School of Law in Topeka. After graduating in 1973, he went right to Cimarron to work for Bernie Frigon.
In what is now an ironic twist to Knobbe’s professional evolution, he interviewed and was offered a job by Bob Berkley in 1973. But like Harding, Knobbe’s hearts closer to home.
“I turned it down because I didn’t want go to the big city (Salina),” he said with a chuckle.
Some 10 months later, Knobbe and Philip Ridenour formed a law practice in Cimarron, and stayed together through 1991. Then they split up and Knobbe Law Office was born in the small town.
Knobbe’s most notable “claim to fame” was arguing a case before the United States Supreme Court in 1991, and won. He represented Tom Feist, founder of Feist Publications. He was Knobbe’s former history teacher at Spearville High School.
“You can be a small-town lawyer and do major cases,” Knobbe said. (SEE SIDEBAR).
The Harding family came to Dodge City two generations before Paige. Her grandparents, John and Twyla, were Oklahomans. John got his start in banking in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was offered a job at First National Bank of Dodge City in the early 1960s.
“Papa’s move to Dodge City changed my family’s life for generations.Those kinds of opportunities are still out here and why I chose to come home,” Paige Harding said.
Her academic journey followed a path similar to Knobbe’s, from Topeka back to southwest Kansas.
As the firstborn of Derrick and Jan Harding, Paige grew up with younger sisters Abby and Lauren, currently students at Washburn School of Law and the University of Kansas, respectively.
They grew up country girls, but also maintain strong ties to the Dodge City community, whether it be Final Fridays through the Carnegie Library, or other events. Paige was a TOC (Tournament of Champions) Girl, who helped plan the famed invitational high school boys basketball tournament.
The 2017 Dodge City High School graduate was a student at the University of Kansas when she was crowned Miss Dodge City in 2019, and while in Washburn University Law School was named Miss Kansas Volunteer 2023 for her volunteerism and community service. Harding was awarded a Dane Hanson Foundation Externship through Washburn, snaring six free hours of credit and a $5,000 scholarship.
She’s founded the nonprofit Purple Pals — co-based at KU and Oklahoma State University — connecting college students to people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Kansas Supreme Court in 2022, launched the Rural Justice Initiative Committee, Harding said.
“(Members) were tasked with finding out the exact demographics of attorneys across Kansas,” she said, “and coming up with solutions to help solve this (attorney shortage) problem. They used my blog in their report and made that part of their grassroots movement. I was invited to a big meeting in September to speak on my experiences.”
Harding was a recipient of the Next Generations under 30 Leaders of Kansas Award.
While her name was circulating throughout Middle America, Harding longed for home. Her first love was growing up in the DC hinterlands and helping rural communities.
“We were either riding horses, fishing, or playing on the hay bales,” she said. “I was in the combine and grain cart, or pulling calves in the middle of the night. One time, Dad picked me up from dance lessons and I helped pull calves wearing a leotard and tights. People would be astounded.”
Harding is fully committed to life in southwest Kansas.
The Hardings no longer farm, but they are heavy into the cattle biz.
“I own a cattle company with my sisters,” Paige said.
Leaving her homeland was never an option, but it took some time during her higher education, before deciding on a career.
“My parents started recommending law school. I interned at (Dave Snapp Law Firm, Dodge City), but did not benefit the attorneys at all. I thought I wasted their time,” Harding said. “But they were nice enough to take a summer to teach me about the law and walk me through things.”
The law won.
After three years in law school, including a summer 2023 internship at Kennedy Berkley, she graduated an Ichabod this past May, took the bar exam in July and in September was informed she passed.
The Salina law firm came calling.
“(Harding) has a gift in her ability to speak to people. She’s awesome, and fearless,” said Jim Angell, managing partner at Kennedy Berkley.
It didn’t take long for others to notice, and for some necessary pieces to fall into place, sealing solutions for the two attorneys, young and old.
“As an attorney, I love living in my hometown and serving the community that built me,” Harding wrote on her online blog, paigeharding.com.
“She’s coming to stay,” Knobbe said. “I can tell the people who were here this morning, signing their wills, ‘In 20 years somebody WILL be here to take care of you.’ ”