Nathan Cate — Nashville Criminal Defense Attorney
Tennessee Bar #032028 · University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, 2013
The Short Version
I am a criminal defense lawyer in Nashville. I defend people facing state charges in Davidson County and across Middle Tennessee — from a first-offense DUI to the most serious felony indictments. I take trial work seriously, and I am built to fight it when fighting is what the case calls for.
How I Got Here
I was born in North Carolina and moved to Alabama almost immediately. Before I was out of grade school my family landed in Tennessee, and I have spent most of my life here since. I graduated with honors from Bradley High School in East Tennessee and played soccer. During those years I also volunteered at Havenplace, a local charity that works with inner-city youth.
I stayed in East Tennessee for college, attending Lee University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in religion. My first real exposure to law came as an intern in a county attorney’s office after undergrad. A short stint at an accounting firm taught me one thing with absolute clarity: I hated accounting. I left quickly and enrolled at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
At Memphis Law I competed in mock trial and moot court competitions, earning recognition as a top oral advocate and best-in-section honors. More importantly, I learned that a courtroom is the one room in the world where I feel completely at home.
I graduated from Memphis Law in 2013 and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar the same year.
Training Under Two Titans
Early in my career I took a position with The Law Office of Massey and McClusky in Memphis. Over three years I learned criminal defense — the real mechanics of it — from Bill Massey and Lorna McClusky, two lawyers whose reputations in the Tennessee criminal bar speak for themselves. I learned how to prepare a case from the charging document to the jury charge, how to read a state’s file for what the prosecutor is not telling you, and how to try a case to verdict.
That training is the foundation every case I handle is built on.
Building a Practice in Nashville
In January 2014 I moved to Nashville to open a criminal defense firm with a law school classmate. We practiced together for several years. After 2020 we each went a different direction — my former partner moved into family law, and I stayed with criminal defense, which has always been the only practice I wanted. Today I run N. Cate Law from downtown Nashville at 222 2nd Avenue North, Suite 220, a short walk from the Davidson County courthouses.
I handle state criminal matters exclusively: DUI, drug offenses, violent crimes, sex crimes, property crimes, post-conviction relief, petitions to suspend, and expungements. If your case is in a Middle Tennessee state court, this is the right office to call.
Why I Do What I Do
Because I love it, and I am good at it.
This job is a fight. Sometimes that fight is a full trial — twelve jurors in a box, three days of testimony, and every bit of blood, sweat, and tears the phrase implies. Other times it is positioning for a plea, working damage control, or helping a client get into treatment so the court sees a human being instead of a rap sheet. Every case is a different puzzle. There is no cure-all. Not every confession can be suppressed and not every witness is lying. I have won a jury trial where my client had confessed, and I have used the state’s own witnesses to build an acquittal. The answer is in the facts, every time, and in knowing the client well enough to put those facts in front of a jury or a judge the right way.
I am not going to tell you I do this because I am a bastion of justice standing against an oppressive system. I will leave that language to lawyers who don’t have a more honest answer. I believe this work matters — I would not do it otherwise — but that is not the reason I took it up. I am here to fight, and I am here to win.
Credentials at a Glance
- Tennessee Bar #032028 (admitted 2013) — verify at tbpr.org/attorneys/032028
- J.D., University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, 2013
- B.B.A. in Business Administration, minor in Religion, Lee University
- Trained under Bill Massey and Lorna McClusky, The Law Office of Massey & McClusky, Memphis
- Practice area: Criminal defense, Tennessee state courts (Middle TN focus — Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner, Wilson, Maury, and surrounding counties)
Free Consultation
If you or someone you love has been arrested or is under investigation in Middle Tennessee, call (615) 664-8083. Initial consultations are free, and I answer my own phone.