Bowen Firm Merges with Shackelford, Zumwalt & Hayes

Jay Bowen

Nashville litigators Jay Bowen, Will Parsons and Lauren Kilgore have joined mid-sized Dallas-based Shackelford, Zumwalt & Hayes, which opened its Nashville office in 2010. The merger expands the Nashville office to seven attorneys. The Nashville office had previously specialized in entertainment business and commercial law. The Bowen group will head the firm’s litigation section.

The firm will now be known as Shackelford, Bowen, Zumwalt & Hayes.

“Jay Bowen is a legendary litigator whom I have always admired, first as a partner at Bass, Berry & Sims and next when he founded Bowen, Warnock & Jacobson. Joined by Will Parsons and Lauren Kilgore, the three are a very formidable litigation team and a perfect fit for our business transactional practice in the Nashville office,” stated partner Jim Zumwalt. “The Nashville office will now be a very similar practice group to our Dallas office. This is an ideal merger and I expect to see continuing expansion of the Nashville practice throughout 2015.”

Will Parsons

John Shackelford, founding partner, added “We are extremely proud to have added the expertise and talents of Jay, Will, and Lauren to our firm. Their nationally-known litigation practice expands the areas of expertise our firm offers.”

Bowen has practiced law in Nashville since 1974. He specializes in complex litigation, with a concentration in entertainment, intellectual property, First Amendment, and business issues. Bowen has been listed as a Mid-South Super Lawyer, in Best Lawyers in America, Nashville Post’s “100 Best Lawyers in Nashville,” and Chambers and Partners Best Lawyers for Business. He is a graduate of Davidson College and Vanderbilt University Law School. He is an alumnus of Leadership Music and is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation. Bowen will lead the litigation division.

Parsons is a litigator with a concentration on entertainment, intellectual property, and business issues. He has represented major recording artists, major and independent record labels, Fortune 500 media companies, and other clients in trial and arbitration matters across the country. He has also represented numerous indigent clients in pro bono matters in the Nashville area. Parsons graduated from the University of Virginia and the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Lauren Kilgore

Kilgore’s practice and experience is focused on complex litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants, with a focus on entertainment, intellectual property and business litigation. Kilgore also handles a wide variety of transactional entertainment industry matters on behalf of both artists and institutional clients. Her practice is focused on complex business and entertainment-related litigation. Kilgore is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School. She previously served as an associate member of the Harry Phillips American Inns of Court, and currently serves as a board member of the Young Lawyer’s Division of the Nashville Bar. Kilgore was also selected as a participant in the Nashville Bar Foundation’s inaugural Leadership Forum for 2014-2015.

Shackelford, Bowen, Zumwalt & Hayes is part of Shackelford, Melton, McKinley & Norton, LLP, a Dallas-based business and entertainment law firm representing financial institutions, recording artists, real estate owners and developers, automobile dealerships, record labels, and other businesses in legal matters across the country.