Brad Reed (1939 - 2016)

Brad Reed died February 2, 2016 after a 25-year battle with cancer. Revered for his keen intellect and rigorous professional ethics, this self-assured yet unassuming community leader helped shape the business and civic landscape of Nashville for half a century.

Brad was born in Nashville, he graduated from Duke University in 1961 and attended Vanderbilt Law School, where he edited the law review and was the Founder's Medalist for the Class of 1964. He taught at the law school from 1964 to 1972. Upon graduation, Brad joined the law firm of Bass Berry & Sims and finished his career with Riley Warnock & Jacobson.

Brad's long legal career was as wide-ranging as it was distinguished. Brad advised some of Nashville's most prominent entrepreneurs, including Jack Massey. Brad served a wide range of organizations and participated in some of Nashville's most significant business dealings. Although scrupulously discreet about his clients, his publicly acknowledged engagements included NLT Corp., Kentucky Fried Chicken and J. Alexander's. Brad was also active in the community and, among other positions, served as chairman of the board of advisors of Belmont University's Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business and president of the Jack C. Massey Foundation.

Those who knew Brad well cherished his sense of honor, responsibility and (sometimes brutal) candor. He held himself to the highest standards of character and fostered these standards in others. Although he lived a life of deep influence in his hometown and beyond, he was to the end positively allergic to self-promotion. Asked in a 2014 Nashville Bar Association Oral History interview how he'd like to be remembered, Brad replied simply and without hesitation: "as an honest, competent lawyer."