Bone McAllester Norton Recruits Liquor Licensing Attorney Will Cheek

Bone McAllester Norton is pumping up its roster with the Aug. 1 addition of attorney Will Cheek III. 

Cheek has practiced business law and business bankruptcy with Dodson Parker & Behm since 2001.  He primarily represents national alcoholic beverage specialists in Tennessee licensing work.

His clients include national brands such as Marriott, Hilton and the Brinker Group, parent company of Chili's restaurants.  Local clients include F. Scott's and Mambu.

Bone McAllester Norton Partner Charles Bone says Cheek's move fits with the firm's growth strategy.

"We've known him for a long time and known his quality of work and his stature in the community," Bone says. "He brings a real specialty.  Nobody has his book of business."

Cheek cites Bone McAllester Norton's "entrepreneurial spirit" as motivation for the move.

"I'm leaving one of the best small law firms in the state," he says of his departure from Dodson Parker.

Cheek is a graduate of Columbia University and the Vanderbilt University Law School.  Prior to joining Dodson Parker, he clerked for Justice Martha Craig Daughtrey at the Tennessee Supreme Court and practiced with Lassiter Tidwell & Hildebrand.  He's a member of the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators.

Bone McAllester Norton opened in Nashville in 2002 and has quickly grown to 21 lawyers, becoming one of the 20 largest local firms.  The firm, which recently added a Sumner County office, posted 2004 revenues of $5.2 million and firm leaders say they should hit around $7 million this year.

hdolloff@bizjournals.com, 615-248-2222 ext. 112