Jay S. Bowen | Attorney

Jay has practiced law in Nashville since graduating from law school in 1974. He practiced at Bass, Berry & Sims from 1974 until he left in 1995 to found Bowen Warnock & Jacobson, a litigation boutique firm. At Bass, Berry & Sims, he headed the firm's intellectual property litigation practice. At Bowen Warnock & Jacobson (later Bowen Riley Warnock & Jacobson) Jay specialized in complex litigation, with a concentration in entertainment, intellectual property, first amendment, and business issues. In 2007 he left the firm and devoted his time and energies to an inner city charter school, at which he remains active. During his career, he has represented and tried many cases, both jury and bench trials, on behalf of local, regional, national and international companies, as well as individuals, including many nationally and internationally known entertainers. He is an alumnus of Leadership Music and is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation. He has been listed as a Mid-South Superlawyer; in Best Lawyers in America; Nashville Post's "100 Best Lawyers in Nashville"; and Chambers' Best Lawyers for Business. He is a graduate of Davidson College and Vanderbilt Law School where he served as Note Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review.

Jay's litigation experience includes the following:

Defending a national religious publishing company in a copyright infringement action in Portland, Oregon;

Representing a major university in litigation in Nashville in which the Tennessee Supreme Court held for the first time that Allen or "dynamite" jury charges are unconstitutional;

Representing major record labels defending audit claims and audit litigation;

Representing international Pop recording stars in copyright infringement litigation;

Representing international recording groups and artists in name and likeness litigation;

Representing international publishers in defamation litigation in Tennessee, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, West Virginia and California;

Representing a national record label in litigation brought by one of its major artists seeking to void her recording contracts;

Representing a major motion picture company in copyright infringement litigation involving themes from the James Bond movies;

Representing a manufacturing company in a case which resulted in landmark rulings governing trade secret protection in Tennessee;

Representing an international record company in litigation with the Elvis Presley estate and Colonel Tom Parker in Tennessee and in New York;

Representing banks, universities, and other businesses in copyright infringement litigation;

Representing Country, Pop and Rap music artists, record companies and publishing companies in a variety of complex business litigation;

Defending three major record labels and recording artists in the Bridgeport litigation in Tennessee which involved allegations of sampling;

Representing an international talent agency in contract and unfair competition litigation;

Representing manufacturing companies in unfair competition, trademark and contract litigation;

Representing a printing company in Sherman and Clayton antitrust allegations against national forms provider;

Representing record companies and publishers in employment discrimination litigation.

Representing a Nashville-based public company in federal income tax litigation.

Representing the Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") in Tennessee against illegal downloads