Ledbetter Opening Fayetteville Practice on Downtown Square

The appeal of Fayetteville’s downtown square was too great for Fayetteville attorney Drew Ledbetter.

Ledbetter, a trial lawyer at Brady, Platt & Ledbetter on Millennium Drive in Fayetteville, is leaving the firm to start his own practice. Ledbetter & Cline will occupy a 5,230-SF office building at 112 S. East Ave., just a half-block from the square.

Courtney Cline, also an attorney at BPL, is joining Ledbetter as a partner. Both are University of Arkansas School of Law graduates.

Ledbetter, an Oklahoma native, recently paid $500,000 for the two-story building, which is undergoing a full-scale remodel. Chris Goddard, owner of Goddard Design Group in Springdale, is leading the design effort.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Ledbetter said. “And you just can’t beat being in downtown Fayetteville.”

The building, built in 1945, has no existing tenants. It most recently housed the offices of attorney Greg Jones, who left town abruptly in the summer of 2011.

Ledbetter bought the property from a group of investors — Morgan Hooker, Matt Jeter and Jim Burnett — who bought it out of receivership in June for $366,000. Ledbetter’s purchase was backed by Fayetteville-based Signature Bank of Arkansas with a five-year mortgage of $522,750.

Renovation is expected to be complete this month and the firm will start with three full-time employees.

Ledbetter, who began his career at the Everett Law Firm in Fayetteville, later was a senior trial attorney in the Benton County prosecutor’s office. He left in 2008 to begin his career as a trial lawyer.