Deputy Secretary of Energy
James P. Danly was sworn in as Deputy Secretary on June 9, 2025.
Before arriving at the Department, Deputy Secretary Danly was a partner and the Energy Regulatory Group leader at Skadden in Washington, D.C. This followed his service at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, first as the Commission’s general counsel then as the commissioner and chairman.
Deputy Secretary Danly was an officer in the United States Army. He served two tours in Iraq, receiving a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
A graduate of Yale University, Deputy Secretary Danly earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. He clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the Sixth Circuit.
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP; Former General Counsel of the Department of Defense
Paul Ney is a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP practicing in with the Defense & National Security and Government Enforcement and Investigations teams. Before joining Bradley, he served as the Legal Advisor to the National Security Council. Previously, he was Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Momentus Inc., a space infrastructure company. Ney has nearly four decades of public service and private law practice experience.
Before joining Momentus, he was presidentially appointed and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the General Counsel of the Department of Defense. In this position, he was the Department’s chief legal officer leading a team of over 12,000 lawyers that served the Department’s more than 2.8 million military and civilian personnel, and he served as the Designated Agency Ethics Official overseeing the Department’s Standards of Conduct Office. During his tenure in the Department of Defense, the U.S. Space Force and the U.S. Space Command were established.
In earlier government roles, Ney was the Principal Deputy and the acting General Counsel of the United States Department of the Navy and Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Tennessee. He also served as Director of the Nashville Davidson County Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development.
Ney has been a partner in two Nashville law firms. He is a registered patent attorney and he has more than 25 years of experience in private practice engaged in commercial litigation, administrative and regulatory law, and intellectual property law.
Vice President & Special Counsel, Lion Real Estate Group
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Judge Stephen Alexander Vaden was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 7, 2025. Alongside Secretary Brooke L. Rollins, Deputy Secretary Vaden leads the Department’s operations and implements policies that support America’s food and farm systems. A native of Union City, Tennessee, Deputy Secretary Vaden brings expertise in agricultural policy, law, and rural development. Previously, he served as a judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade and as General Counsel of USDA. Throughout Deputy Secretary Vaden’s time as General Counsel, he led successful Supreme Court litigation, advanced regulatory reform, and supported the implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Vanderbilt University. A public servant with strong agricultural roots, Deputy Secretary Vaden is committed to revitalizing rural America and ensuring an abundant, affordable, and safe U.S. food supply.
Vice President & Special Counsel, Lion Real Estate Group
Vice President & Special Counsel, Lion Real Estate Group
Vice President & Special Counsel, Lion Real Estate Group
Vice President & Special Counsel, Lion Real Estate Group
JOHN L. RYDER concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He has represented secured lenders, unsecured creditor's committees, trustees and debtors in the bankruptcy process. He has participated in a number of major bankruptcies including: The Julien Companies, Microwave Products, Wexner & Jacobson, Wang's, XpertTune, Braniff and others.
He served as Shelby County Delinquent Tax Attorney (1990-1994) and was a member of the Shelby County Home Rule Charter Commission (1984-1985). He is a member of the Memphis (Chairman, Bankruptcy Section, 1985) and Tennessee (Chairman, Commercial, Banking and Bankruptcy Section, 1986) Bar Associations, and the American Bankruptcy Institute and Mid-South Commercial Law Institute (Director, 1989-Present). He also serves as an Assistant County Attorney. Mr. Ryder is listed in the Best Lawyers in America. He has also been recognized by Business Tennessee as being among 101 Best Lawyers in Tennessee.
Vanderbilt University (J.D., 1974)
Wabash College (A.B., 1971)
Restructuring Associate, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Chief Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court
Justice Jeff Bivins took office as a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court on July 16, 2014. He was appointed to this position by Governor Bill Haslam. He was elected to the remainder of the full term in August 2016. Effective September 1, 2016, his colleagues elected him to the position of Chief Justice, a position he served in until September 2021. Prior to his appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, Justice Bivins was a judge on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals from August 2011 until July 2014. Previously, Justice Bivins also served as a Circuit Court Judge for the 21st Judicial District of Tennessee, covering Williamson, Hickman, Lewis, and Perry Counties. He was appointed to the trial court position in March 2005. Justice Bivins was elected to a full eight-year term in 2006. He also previously served in a circuit judge position from July 1999 through August 2000. He is a 1986 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law. He received a B.A. Degree, magna cum laude, in 1982 from East Tennessee State University, with a major in political science and a minor in criminal justice. Justice Bivins is the immediate past President of the Tennessee Judicial Conference. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Bivins served on the Board of Judicial Conduct and its predecessor, the Court of the Judiciary. Justice Bivins also previously served on the Tennessee Judicial Evaluation Commission. He is a member of the John Marshall American Inn of Court, having served as President from 2003-2008, and the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, and the Williamson County Bar Association. He also is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Tennessee Bar Foundation, and the Nashville Bar Foundation. He is a former member of the Williamson County Commission. Prior to his appointment to the trial bench, Justice Bivins practiced law with the firm of Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry PLC in Nashville, Tennessee. He also served as Assistant Commissioner and General Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Personnel.
Panel 2: Around the Cabinet Table
2025 Tennessee Chapters Conference
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