James H. Cheek III died on August 27 at age 78. A member of ALI since 1977, he served as an Adviser for Restatement of the Law, Corporate Governance and in the Members Consultative Group for Principles of the Law, Compliance & Enforcement for Organizations.
Cheek’s career spans over 50 years. He earned his degrees from Duke University, Harvard Law School, and Vanderbilt University Law School. He joined Bass, Berry & Sims in 1970 after teaching at Vanderbilt Law. Cheek served as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Legal Advisory Committee, and was a founding fellow and member of the Board of Trustees for the American College of Governance Counsel.
“Jim was a defining individual of our firm identity and revered by many. While we mourn his passing, we are forever grateful for his years of dedicated service and friendship. Jim was among the greats of the national securities and corporate governance bar. He was a mentor whose legacy will be a lasting example of statesmanship and advocacy at our firm and within the legal industry at large,” said Todd Rolapp in the obituary posted by Bass, Berry & Sims. “We are incredibly fortunate to have had the privilege and honor of working alongside him. Our entire team is immeasurably better for the opportunity to have worked with him. We will miss him very much.”