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Paul C. Ney Jr.

Former General Counsel of the Department of Defense

 

The Honorable Paul C. Ney Jr. is Former General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, he is the chief legal officer of the Department and the legal adviser to the Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Ney’s legal career has been a combination of private practice and public service. He has twice been a partner in private law firms, first with Trauger, Ney & Tuke and later with Patterson Intellectual Property Law, P.C. He also was Director of the Nashville Davidson County Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development. Within the Department, Mr. Ney previously served as Acting General Counsel and Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of the Navy, and as Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel)for the Department of Defense. Immediately prior to rejoining the Department, he served as Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Tennessee.

Mr. Ney is a recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal and Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.

Mr. Ney earned his Juris Doctor and Masters of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University and his Bachelor of Science in Biology & Society from Cornell University. He served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Adrian Duplantier in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

A member of the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, and a past president of the Nashville Bar Association, Mr. Ney is admitted to practice in Tennessee, California, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Supreme Court.