Half a century after joining the firm as a young associate, John Coleman is still invigorated by his work at Bradley Arant. But now, much of his energy is focused on preserving the memories of the people who originally defined the firm for him and his contemporaries. Mr. Coleman, a former managing partner, is writing the history of Bradley Arant from a unique perspective, including first-hand experiences with some of its most engaging personalities.
Barney Monaghan, the Rhodes Scholar who ultimately became chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials Company, endures as more than a legend to Mr. Coleman – he’s the energetic taskmaster who summoned the young Coleman to many an all-night work session. And he remembers “Chief” All, with his rumpled suits, rural upbringing and long cigarette ashes, as a lawyer who spoke the only language that mattered, that of the jury. For Coleman and other Bradley Arant lawyers, these personalities are not relegated to the past. The principles and standards they established as the firm's early leaders still serve as the bedrock in the firm’s foundation – a foundation of core values on which Bradley Arant continues to build.
Since its origins in 1871, just prior to the incorporation of the City of Birmingham, Bradley Arant has grown tremendously with the city and the rest of the Southeast. But this growth remains rooted in a love for the law and dedication to the larger community. This is the remarkable legacy of the people of Bradley Arant. And these are the shoulders on which the firm stands.
Standing on Principle
One of the firm's first partners, John Plummer Tillman, made his greatest impact outside of the courtroom. He organized the Birmingham Bar Association in 1885 and served as its first president. A decade later, he became the first Birmingham lawyer to serve as president of the Alabama State Bar. As a testament to his standing in the legal community, the Birmingham Bar selected him to head a delegation to the nation’s capital to oppose the confirmation of a new federal judge whose impartiality was seriously in question. This assignment carried great risks for every lawyer involved, for the new judge would hear all cases arising in Alabama’s Northern District. Tillman accepted the charge and successfully petitioned the Senate, which voted not to confirm.
Eschewing Personal Favor
With a sharp memory and an engaging personality, Hugh Morrow proved a formidable trial lawyer, with ethical convictions that matched his legal abilities. After one particularly difficult case in the 1930s, Mr. Morrow expected an adverse verdict. But to his great surprise, the jury found in his favor. Soon afterwards, Morrow came across the jury foreman and expressed his shock at the trial’s outcome. The foreman recounted his own experience a few years earlier when he was down on his luck. It seems that Mr. Morrow's father had lent him a horse to go elsewhere and make a fresh start. The trial had marked the grateful foreman’s first opportunity to return the favor. After thanking the man, Mr. Morrow reported immediately to the Alabama Supreme Court and asked that the case be sent back for a new trial. His request, startling only to those who did not know him, was granted.
Striving for Justice Above All
At a time when Americans were struggling to define the role of minorities, Douglas Arant deferred to the principles of fairness and justice. While serving as a commissioner of the Alabama State Bar in the 1930s, Mr. Arant was approached by a young black law graduate who told him that, despite having met all the requirements, he had been denied the opportunity of taking the state bar examination. Mr. Arant immediately lobbied that the young man be allowed to take the examination, and his application was approved the next day. A few years later, Arant personally and successfully sponsored the same individual again, helping him to become the first African-American member of the Birmingham Bar Association. The young lawyer, Oscar Adams, would later serve with distinction as a Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Confronting the President of the United States
Mr. Arant also played an active role in national governmental affairs. From 1933-34, he served in President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration as Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. Although a strong supporter of the President, Mr. Arant agreed to chair the National Committee for Independent Courts. Like other members of the committee, Arant opposed the President’s legislative efforts to pack the existing nine-member United States Supreme Court with additional justices of Roosevelt’s own political philosophy. The substantial political sacrifices of the committee members proved to be a major factor in the defeat of the Roosevelt proposal and in the preservation of an independent judiciary.
Enriching the Community
Known for his unerring good judgement, tenacity and overall ability, Mr. Arant garnered recognition and praise from both clients and peers alike. Throughout the state, he maintained notable civic and charitable commitments, an emphasis that still thrives throughout the firm today. Shortly after his death, in tribute to his strong personal commitment to pro bono service, Bradley Arant created the Douglas Arant Public Interest Fellowship to provide opportunities for law clerks to work for a public service organization. Upon learning of Mr. Arant’s death, Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. of the United States Supreme Court noted that "apart from being a distinguished lawyer with a national reputation, he was a superb human being."
Knowing When to Remain Silent
Lee Carrington Bradley attended college at 14 and joined the Alabama State Bar at the age of 20. He served on retainer for the Birmingham Electric Company, the firm's largest client, until its purchase by Alabama Power Company in the 1950s. His son, Lee Carrington Bradley, Jr., dedicated more than 75 years of service to the firm. Skillfully negotiating tax code intricacies and complex corporate issues, Mr. Bradley, Jr., shaped much of Alabama's corporate law in the 20th Century. Although personally shy, he became a first-rate mentor to young lawyers. One lawyer ruefully recalls working on a matter pending before the Internal Revenue Service with Mr. Bradley. After negative responses from the IRS agent, silence ensued. When the young lawyer started to open his mouth to make an additional point, he felt a sharp kick to his shin. The silence continued for a few minutes more. Finally, the IRS agent spoke up – to make a significant concession. On the way back to the office, Mr. Bradley informed the young attorney with the smarting shin that "silence is one of the most important and effective tools in the negotiating process."
Making Rain in the South (with Help from the North)
William Bew White brought New York City skills to the Deep South. He arrived in 1913, just as the first great bond financing ever to be undertaken in Alabama was about to proceed. His familiarity with both the legal and practical issues that attend bond financing impressed everyone involved, and attracted numerous clients to the firm for years to come. Like his father, William Bew White, Jr., who joined the firm in 1945, combined the skills of an accomplished lawyer with an outgoing personality that endeared him to clients, including many attracted by Mr. White himself. Like Mr. Arant, Mr. White was deeply committed to community service, devoting both his time and resources to charities in Birmingham. As one lawyer recalls, Mr. White was a "supremely decent human being." His leadership skillfully guided the next generation of Bradley Arant attorneys into a new era.
Delivering a One-Two Punch with a Feminine Twist
William Alfred Rose, who joined the firm in 1924, became well-known in local and national legal circles. As both taskmaster and proverbial gentleman, Rose practiced in the field of public finance, to great acclaim. In 1951, the Alabama Attorney General confided that the State of Alabama itself would make no financing move without first consulting Mr. Rose. At a time when law was still a male-dominated profession, Rose's partner in the firm’s public finance practice was Ellene Winn, one of the first female lawyers in the Southeast. When World War II called away Bradley Arant's younger lawyers, the partners made what was then a bold decision; they hired a woman. What began as a temporary arrangement quickly turned permanent as Ms. Winn, who had earned her law degree through night school classes during the Depression, established herself as a top legal mind. Later generations of Bradley Arant lawyers remember Ms. Winn not only for her intelligence but also for her hospitality, as she often let new associates live in her guest house until they could find homes of their own.
Still Writing the Rest of the Story…
Bradley Arant has achieved tremendous success through the efforts of these and other individuals. The traditions which began in Birmingham more than 135 years ago now inspire some 250 Bradley Arant lawyers spread across five Southeastern cities and the nation’s capital. Their mutual, long-standing commitment to the highest professional standards and ethical practices has created an environment that continues to attract other capable students of the law. With many former law review editors and law clerks to federal district judges and to four justices of the United States Supreme Court, Bradley Arant comprises a diverse array of individuals who aspire to both individual and collective achievement.
These men and women carry forward the legacy defined by the firm’s early leaders. Active both in the bar and the community, this new generation of Bradley Arant attorneys is now writing the next chapter of this distinguished history.
