The Chattanooga Bar Foundation introduced four new fellows during its 2022 Fellows Luncheon July 13 at Walden Club.
Attorneys Dean Clements, Ron Feldman, Jeff Maddux and Maury Nicely bring the number of fellows who make up the foundation to 152.
To become a fellow, an attorney must have an outstanding record of service to both the Chattanooga Bar Association and the broader community, says Fellows Committee chairperson Sam Elliott.
In addition, a member of the foundation must nominate the attorney for inclusion.
Maury Nicely
Nicely is an attorney with Evans Harrison Hackett, where he concentrates on employment litigation and labor law.
Nicely is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a holds juris doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law.
After working in the labor and employment department at Miller & Martin for 12 years, he went in-house as the labor attorney for Volkswagen Chattanooga. In 2010, he co-founded Evans Harrison Hackett and practices labor and employment law.
Nicely is also an avid historian. His published works include the “Chattanooga Walking Tour & Historic Guide,” the “East Tennessee Walking Tour & Historic Guide” and “Hoffa in Tennessee: The Chattanooga Trial That Brought Down an Icon.”
He’s putting the finishing touches on “Forging a New South: The Biography of Civil War General John T. Wilder,” which the University of Tennessee Press expects to publish in 2023.
Nicely has served on the boards of the Chattanooga History Center, the Chattanooga Arts & Education Council, the East Tennessee Historical Society, Preserve Chattanooga, the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center and the Vanderbilt Alumni Association.
He says joining his colleagues as a Fellow is a humbling distinction.
“In my experience, the fellows represent attorneys who are committed to providing excellent legal representation to their clients in a professional, collegial manner and also to serving the local community outside of the legal setting. I’ve always been proud to be a member of the Chattanooga bar, and it’s a great honor for me to join a group of attorneys I greatly admire.”
Nicely’s wife, Jennifer, is president of the Memorial Hospital Foundation. They have two sons.
Jeffrey Maddux
Maddux is a shareholder with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel in Chattanooga. He’s built a national practice representing clients on commercial litigation matters in the education and financial services industries.
Maddux is a Chattanooga native and an alumnus of Leadership Chattanooga and Boyd Buchanan School.
He is a graduate of Lipscomb University and earned his juris doctor from the University of Memphis School of Law. He also holds an MBA from the University of Memphis.
Maddux has served in leadership roles for several different organizations within the legal community, including the CBA Young Lawyers Division, the Federal Bar Association, the Mid-South Commercial Law Institute, the Tennessee Bar Association’s Leadership Law Program and the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.
He’s the immediate past president of the CBA. As president, Maddux was responsible for working with the board of governors to guide the association and the local legal community as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maddux also says becoming a Fellow is humbling.
“When I think back to when I started practicing, I recall Max Bahner taking the new associates to lunch and talking with us about what it means to be an attorney, including our obligation to this profession and our community.
“The CBA serves not just its members but the entire community. To be recognized as a Fellow of the CBA among those attorneys who have served and given back is an honor.”
Outside of the office, Maddux enjoys spending time with his wife, Emily, and their two children.
Dean Clements
Clements is the managing partner at Spears, Moore, Rebman and Williams. He’s represented physicians, hospitals and health care providers in medical malpractice cases and medical licensing board issues for 31 years.
Clements graduated from the McCallie School in 1984 and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1988. He earned his juris doctor from the UT School of Law in 1991.
He’s a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association and the CBA.
Clements serves as an assistant wrestling coach at Signal Mountain High School and as a member of the Swedish Colonial Society, the Swedish Finn Historical Society and the American Battlefield Trust.
Ronald Feldman
Feldman concentrates his practice at Husch Blackwell in the area of commercial real estate.
He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1969 and from Vanderbilt Law School in 1972. After a brief tour of active duty as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he returned to Chattanooga and practiced with the firm of Shumacker & Thompson, which later combined with the firm of Witt, Gaither & Whitaker to form Shumacker, Witt, Gaither & Whitaker.
Feldman holds memberships in the Chattanooga, Tennessee and American bar associations and served on the advisory board of Vanderbilt Law School for nine years.
He says he was surprised to learn of his election to the CBF.
“I’m deeply honored and humbled to know the Fellows of the foundation deemed me worthy of inclusion in their ranks. I will endeavor to uphold the high standards of the CBF.”
Feldman is married to Dana Feldman. The Feldmans have two adult daughters and three granddaughters.
Being a fellow
The CBF serves several roles, including promoting and improving the legal profession, elevating the ethical standards of the bench and bar, improving relations between the members of the legal profession, the judiciary and the public, providing scholarships and charitable giving.
As a group, the fellows work to improve the study of law, the administration of justice and relations between the members of the legal profession and the public.
The fellows also aim to elevate the ethical standards of the bench and bar, help lawyers who are ill, award scholarships and provide funds for charitable causes.
Election as a fellow is meant to signal that the membership as a whole regards the honoree to possess a good reputation for professionalism, competence and civility, says Sam Elliott, chair of the fellows committee.
“Each of the new Fellows embodies those admirable characteristics in their own unique way. They join a fellows group dedicated to maintaining the wonderfully high standards of practice that makes the Chattanooga bar the envy of Tennessee.”
Additional source: Chattanooga Bar Foundation