About

• 

About Nathan Cate

Born in North Carolina, I moved almost immediately to Alabama. While still a small child I moved to Tennessee where I was raised and where have spent the majority of my life. I attended Bradley High School in East Tennessee, where I graduated with honors and played soccer. During these younger years, I also volunteered at Havenplace a local charity aimed at assisting inner-city youth.

Continuing in East Tennessee, I attended Lee University where I earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and completed a minor in religion. I got my first taste of law interning with county attorney after finishing my undergraduate degrees.

An early position with an accounting firm only taught me one thing. I hated accounting. I shortly abandoned that career and began to pursue my legal education at the University of Memphis Law School. While at the University I actively participated in many of the mock trial and moot court competitions, earning awards as a top oral advocate and for best in section.

Taking an early interest in criminal law I began working with The Law Office of Massey and McClusky. There I had the privilege of learning criminal law from Bill Massey and Lorna McClusky, two undeniable titans of the criminal defense arena. I spent three years there, learning everything from preparing a case for trial to in-depth mechanics necessary to bring that trial to a successful conclusion.

In January of 2014 I moved to Nashville to begin The Law Offices of Lords and Cate; bringing to fruition an idea proposed by Mr. Lords during the second year of law school. By taking advantage of the various strength brought both myself and Mr. Lords we have formed a formidable criminal defense firm capable of handling even the most serious of charges.

After the pandemic of 2020, Mr. Lords of “Lords and Cate” and I went our separate ways as he decided to practice solely in Family Law and I remained dedicated to my career in Criminal Law.

Why I do what I do?

Because I love it and I am great at it. This job is a fight. Sometimes that fight involves a full-blown trial, twelve jurors in a box with all the blood, sweat, and tears involved. Other times it is positioning and posturing for a plea, working damage control and assisting clients in getting the help they need to kick a drug problem or receive treatment for a mental illness. Every case is a unique puzzle. There is no cure-all. Not every confession or drug deal can be suppressed and not every witness is lying. I have won a jury trial with a confession and used the state’s own witnesses to craft an acquittal. It is only by taking the facts of every individual case and by learning about the client that cases are fought and won.

I cannot and will not tell you that I am here because I am bastion of justice standing firm against an oppressive legal system. I will leave such meaningless ramblings to those who don’t possess a real answer to this question. Don’t misunderstand me I believe in what I do and believe that this job is necessary, it is just not why I do it. I am here to fight and I am here to win.