S. NIXON PRESSLEY Bennett & Pressley, P.C.
Staff Counsel
Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Nixon graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 1986. After two years working for a real estate development company in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Nixon moved to Nashville and enrolled in law school. He earned his law degree from Nashville School of Law in 1992.
Nixon then went to work for his father-in-law, Ken Stilts, as in-house counsel for Mr. Stilts’ music artist management company located in middle Tennessee. Upon Mr. Stilts’ transition from the music business, Nixon became In-House Counsel and later General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer of Mr. Stilts’ other thriving business, S & S Industries, Inc., a manufacturing company serving companies involved in the appliance, heating and air conditioning industries and pre-engineered metal building contractors.
Contemporaneously with these endeavors, Nixon operated a solo law practice in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Nixon’s law practice has consisted of a wide array of experience-including personal injury, family law, wills and estates, business formations, contracts and real estate. He also has experience evolving from his time in the corporate world including workers’ compensation, employment law, employee benefits, banking and finance, contracts and leases, insurance and corporate governance. And, as a result of the sale of S & S Industries, Inc. in March of 2013 Nixon has hands-on practical experience with mergers and acquisitions from both a buyer and seller’s perspective.
It was as a result of Nixon’s association with Mr. Stilts that he met Michael J. Philbin, a Nashville attorney and founder of the law firm now known as Bennett & Pressley, P.C. Mr. Philbin, who passed away in 2015, represented Mr. Stilts for many years and regarded Mr. Stilts as his oldest and dearest client. It was through that affiliation that Nixon began working with Mr. Philbin having worked together on litigation matters and handled closings on behalf of Lawyer’s Escrow Service, Inc. Nixon has over the last twenty-one years conducted over 3,500 closings, consisting of both residential and commercial transactions.
Nixon and Mr. Philbin were in the planning stages of a more formal law partnership at the time of Mr. Philbin’s passing in April of 2015. There were discussions ongoing at that time that included the additional involvement of a mutual friend and attorney, Ernest D. (Denny) Bennett, III. With Mr. Philbin’s passing, it became Nixon and Denny’s chief aim to continue the legacy of Mr. Philbin and fulfill the planned mission of partnering together in the practice of law. Nixon and Denny acquired the law practice of Michael J. Philbin and purchased the firm (Michael J. Philbin, P.C.) in June, 2015. The name of the firm was changed to Bennett & Pressley, P.C. However, as a tribute to Mr. Philbin, he will forever be prominently noted on the firm’s letterhead as its founder. Nixon heads up the firm’s Mt. Juliet office.
Nixon is admitted to practice in all of the state courts in Tennessee and is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Fifteenth Judicial District Bar Association.
Nixon is a member of the Mt. Juliet Breakfast Rotary Club, a past Trustee of Rutland Place, Inc. and served the Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce for two terms as Director and as Board Chair in 2016. His past service includes the Mt. Juliet YMCA Advisory Board of Directors and work on behalf of Young Life of Wilson County. He is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Wilson.
Nixon and his wife, Tina, reside in Lebanon, Tennessee. They have two children and one granddaughter. In his spare time, Nixon enjoys golf, travel, University of Tennessee athletics and spending time with his family.