When Charles “Buz” Dooley was a student at Ft. Benning Basic Infantry Officers School in Columbus, Ga., his leaders never said, “Buz, go do this.” Instead, they said, “Buz, follow me.” Dooley respected the men who showed by example what they expected of him. Taking his cue from their style of leadership, he has since led a life worthy of emulation.
Dooley’s story begins 77 years ago, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., the kind of town where his mother was able to run a ladies apparel at the same location for 69 years. He got his famous nickname before he was opening his eyes on a regular basis.
“My sister was a few years older than I, but not old enough she could pronounce things clearly. When I was born, she couldn’t pronounce the word ‘brother’ yet, so she said ‘buzzer.’ From there, it was ‘Buzzee,’ and then ‘Buz,’ with one ‘z,’ not two. No one knows me as ‘Charles W.’; everyone knows me as ‘Buz,’” he says, chuckling at the memory.
Dooley started drumming early on, and was merely 6 years old when he joined the local high school matching band. His parents sent him Columbia Military Academy, where he became first lieutenant in the band and head of the drum corps. He graduated when he was 17.
Dooley’s years at Columbia were formative. “Military Academy was the most meaningful experience of my life, other than family. It taught me self-discipline, which enabled me to do things I otherwise would not have done,” he says.
Following graduation from Columbia in 1952, Dooley spent four years at Vanderbilt, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration. He didn’t know a law career lie ahead of him, so he didn’t take classes that would have prepped him for law school.
“I was there to get a good education. I had thought about the law, but I hadn’t dwelled on it,” he says.
From Vanderbilt, Dooley went to Ft. Benning, where he finished as a distinguished graduate and then spent several years in a combination of active, reserve and control group duty. On the lapel of his suit jacket is a pin that reads, “God Bless Our Troops.” “Once you’ve been in the military, it stays with you, even once you’re out of it,” he says.
Following graduation from Ft. Benning, Dooley entered the work force. Although a friend had gone directly to law school, Dooley didn’t want his parents to have to pay for any more of his schooling, so he buckled down to earn a paycheck.
While working at the clothing store his parents owned, Dooley met a Jantzen swimwear and sports sales rep. The two hit it off, and Dooley became his assistant. Eventually, he assumed the man’s entire sales territory, which consisted of Alabama, the Florida panhandle, North Mississippi and Memphis, Tenn.
Sales suited Dooley well. Jantzen named him Rookie of the Year and later Southeastern Sales Representative of the Year, and in 1965 gave him its international “Diving Girl Award” for menswear sales.
“I loved it. I liked meeting people and helping them. A lot of salesmen, in an effort to show high performance, would overload a business with product. My goal was for a business to sell everything I sold them so I would have an open door when I came back the next year,” he says.
When Jantzen promoted Dooley to senior sales rep in 1960, he married Annette Drake and moved to Vestavia, Ala. Although his career was going well, he never forgot something he had promised Annette before they tied the knot.
“I told her in five years, I would stop traveling and would either open a business or obtain a professional degree. I did not want to be on the road all of the time. A lot of people are able to do that, but I didn’t think I’d be able to,” he says.
Dooley prayed about the choices available to him. The answer came while he was doing yardwork.
“I was mowing our grass when I realize I could have a good career and help people in the legal profession,” he says.
By the time Cumberland Law School of Samford University in Birmingham accepted Dooley, he was already a family man. He had kids, a mortage and pets to boot. To make ends meet while attending classes, he took a job in a law library, clerked and worked weekends in a department store. Despite being busy, he made time to be a founding member of the Cumber Law Review.
In 1969, Dooley graduated in the top ten percent of his class, moved his family to Signal Mountain, Tenn., and went to work for the firm now known as Lietner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan. He speaks of the years since then with remarkable brevity, saying only, “I remained in our Chattanooga office, primarily involved in the practice of civil defense litigation.”
Dooley retired in 2010 at the age of 75, following 30 “very rewarding” years with Leitner, Chattanooga’s oldest and one of its most respected law firms.
Although retired, Dooley did not vacate his office at Leitner or stop practicing law. Rather, he became “of counsel,” which freed him to do a significant amount of pro bono work for Legal Aid of East Tennessee. Dooley primarily does intake for the organization, which involves interviewing potential clients, determining the type of law and representation they need and then placing them with a local attorney.
To honor his work in this area, LAET in 2006 gave Dooley its Bruce C. Bailey Volunteer Attorney of the Year Award and made him an inaugural member of its pro bono Hall of Fame.
Although Dooley has more time for community service than he did before retirement, he’s no stranger to volunteerism. After serving as president of his fraternities at Vanderbilt and Cumberland, he volunteered his time as a Signal Mountain Lion’s Club officer. His worked impressed his peers, who dubbed him Lion of the Year in 1974 and 1975. Dooley has also worked with youth, serving as a Cub Scout Pack Master and as girls’ baseball and softball coach. He’s also served as secretary, junior warden and senior warden at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.
Dooley has also been an active member of the legal profession. At the height of his career, he served as board member, secretary, president elect and president of the Chattanooga Bar Association, and held memberships in the Tennesee and American Bar Associations, the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association, the International Association of Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute.
The family Dooley and his wife Annette started in the ‘60s grew along with his career. He and his wife had two children, Doug and Anne Elizabeth, both of whom are excelling as lawyers. Doug has worked at Leitner for 25 years, while Anne Elizabeth is practicing law in the office of the governor of Alabama.
“I did not try to get them to follow in my footsteps. I wanted them to be happy, not do something because I had done it,” he says.
Doug and Anne Alizabeth have given their parents four granddaughters, in whom Dooley sees “delight and qualities” he knows will serve them well.
Dooley and his wife still live on Signal Mountain, although they are now attending St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. “My priorities in life are religion, number one; family, number two; and country, number three,” he says.
It takes only a short time with Dooley to ascertain his priorities. He’s a man of conviction who takes his responsibilities as a leader seriously. He is also humble, and credits others for helping him to become the man he is.
“It is with gratitude and wonder that I consider how the Good Lord has blessed me with Annette, and with parents who were dedicated to their church, family and country, and with extended family that possesses the work ethic necessary to preserve these things. My accomplishments are to be credited to my religion and family. The mistakes and errors, however, are mine,” he says.
Dooley’s mother lived to the ripe age of 97, and Dooley plans on praticing law for as long as he is able. As such, he is not looking back on 77 years of life, but on the years that lie ahead of him. As such, he speaks of his hopes for his country, which is going through a challenging time.
“My wish is for all of us to willingly, faithfully and patriotically serve the rest of our lives as family oriented citizens, and for each of us to contribute to the greater church, community and nation God, our families and our institutions have made available to us,” he says.
Dooley is not telling anyone to travel a path his many steps have not already created. Rather, he’s continuing to blaze a trail forward, and to look back at others and say, “Follow me.”