615.254.3060

William N. Bates

William N. Bates, co-founder and managing partner at Farrar Bates Berexa

William N. Bates

Of Counsel

Contacts

615-254-3060 

Bill is a co-founder of Farrar Bates Berexa and served as managing partner from 1992 until his retirement in 2023. He practiced in the areas of insurance defense, municipal liability defense, civil rights defense, police liability defense, governmental tort liability defense, employment law, employment discrimination, wage and hour defense, land use and zoning, real estate broker liability defense, and trial and appellate litigation. Bill has been rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™, the only nationally recognized attorney rating service.

Prior to joining Farrar Bates Berexa, Bates served as the assistant attorney general for the State of Tennessee Office of the Attorney General and chief administrative law judge for the Tennessee Secretary of State.

Bill obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1974 from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in 1971.

Bill is an active member in the Tennessee Bar Association and Nashville Bar Association. In addition to practicing law, Bill is a guest lecturer at the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual meeting.

Education:

University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1974
University of Alabama, Bachelor of Arts 1971

Admissions:

State of Tennessee
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Supreme Court

Presentations and Seminars:

Frequent guest lecturer for the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual meeting, numerous police liability and employment law seminars across the state

Publications:

State Agency Rulemaking Under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, Legal Remedies, Tennessee Bar Journal (1980)
Disqualification of Administrative Officers, 13 Mem. St. U. L. Rev. 501 (1983)
Liability of a Municipality for Injuries to a Passenger in a Fleeing Vehicle in a High-Speed Police Chase, Tennessee Bar Journal (2001)