Hal "Wells" Johnson joined Adams and Reese in 2011 as an Associate in the firm’s Nashville office. His experience spans three key areas, including health care law, governmental relations and environmental matters.
As a 2010 summer associate at Adams and Reese, Wells worked on legal matters concerning copyright and trademark infringement, fiduciary duties of joint adventurers, tax-exempt status, fair market value of charitable contributions, state and federal broker-dealer designation, and dissolution of LLCs.
Wells formerly clerked in the United States Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee and in the Public Defender’s Office of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County.
While working with the Office of the General Counsel at Vanderbilt University, Wells gained valuable health care experience through researching information and interviewing medical personnel to help defend Vanderbilt University Medical Center against a collective action lawsuit filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Wells also formerly served as Special Assistant/Correspondence Manager to The Honorable Al Gore in Nashville.
His other significant accomplishments include:
- Serving as the editor-in-chief of the Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review (ELPAR), which Vanderbilt University Law School publishes in conjunction with the Environmental Law Institute.
- Hosting the fourth annual ELPAR symposium on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The purpose of this symposium is to publicize and synthesize the year’s best legal scholarship on key environmental matters. Policymakers are then able to utilize these groundbreaking and innovative policy recommendations when implementing new laws and regulations.
- Graduating magna cum laude from Belmont University, where he was inducted into the Phi Alpha Theta and Sigma Tau Delta academic honors societies, served as the editor-in-chief of Belmont’s Literary Journal, and made Dean’s List every semester.
Wells received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in May 2011, and earned his B.A. in English Literature, magna cum laude, from Belmont University in 2006. He also spent two summers studying abroad in Russia and Germany in 2005, and in Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic in 2006.
On a personal note, among the people Wells most admires is his father, who has been a positive role model and an integral part of his life. His father always envisioned starting his own business, and ultimately pursued that dream. Through hard work, an unmatched commitment to his customers and excellent services, his company is thriving and nearing its 30th anniversary. Wells strives to embody these same characteristics in his personal and professional life.
In his spare time, Wells and his wife enjoy going on walks and hikes with their dogs. He also is an avid reader of modern fiction and historical non-fiction, as well as a big baseball and football fan.
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