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UWG Alum and Atlanta attorney honored
July 6, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - “How I wish that by some means Dr. Ingram could have known that his investment in me would produce the fulfilled life I have experienced.”
Those
are the words of Atlanta attorney and University of West Georgia
alum Paul Cadenhead as he reflected on receiving the Professionalism Award
from the Atlanta Bar Association.
In 1943, Dr. Irvine Ingram, the first president of what was then West Georgia College, saw something special in this young man from Turkey Creek and provided him with jobs on campus in order for Cadenhead to afford the cost of college. Evidently, 61 years later, the Atlanta Bar Association saw something special in the man as well.
“This award recognizes someone who promotes excellence, professionalism and public responsibility within the legal profession,” noted S. Wade Malone, president of the Atlanta Bar Association. “Paul Cadenhead’s career, which spans 55 years, has stood for the highest possible standards of professionalism. Frequently, the more you learn about someone the less you like and respect him or her. The exact opposite is true with Paul Cadenhead.”
Sally Lockwood, director of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, described Cadenhead’s commitment to professionalism.
“It is because of the contributions and careers of the towers of our profession, of which Paul Cadenhead is the epitome, that we can be proud to call ourselves lawyers,” she said. “Those who know him can echo the words of Shakespeare’s HenryVI: ‘In thy face I see the map of honor, truth and loyalty.’”
According to Malone, three of the awards the Atlanta Bar Association bestows are its Leadership Award, Charles Watkins Award and Professionalism Award. Prior to this year, no one has ever received all three.
“Someone now has, and that attorney is Paul Cadenhead,” Malone said.
As early as 1960 the Atlanta Bar Association recognized Candehead’s dedication by presenting him with a resolution and plaque “For Service in the Highest Tradition of the Legal Profession,” the only such formal recognition ever given by the Association for public service.
“Decades ago I could never have envisioned coming to the big city and being accepted as I have been accepted,” Cadenhead said. “But it all began at West Georgia College.”
Cadenhead could not afford to attend college so he went to the NYA Vocational School near the West Georgia campus. After watching the 1943 WGC graduation ceremony, he inquired where the president was and laid his predicament before Dr. Ingram.
“I caught up with him and he graciously agreed to talk with me,” Cadenhead remembered. “Dr. Ingram quickly joined my effort to go to college, and I was enrolled in the summer quarter with sufficient jobs to pay for everything.”
Throughout his ensuing years at West Georgia, Cadenhead fired boilers, worked in the dining hall, substituted as night watchman, painted, drove the college bus, worked as night clerk in the downtown Clifton hotel and held other jobs. His dogged determination led to the fulfillment of a childhood dream, Cadenhead noted upon accepting the Atlanta Bar Association’s Award.
In 1937, when he was 10 years old, a family event caused him to dream of becoming a lawyer — a seemingly hopeless dream, he says, which did, in fact, come true.
Cadenhead has practiced law for more than half a century. Noting that receiving the Professionalism Award was a high in his 55 years as a member of the Bar, Cadenhead commented on the concept of professionalism.
“Professionalism is more than adherence to standards. Professionalism is a way of life, and embodies the strengths of truth, honesty and integrity,” he sated. “It is like a shield that protects our profession itself. It protects us from selfish demands made upon us by those who wield economic clout. The shield also protects the disadvantaged from the avarice of those who otherwise would prey upon them. That underlying concept of professionalism is what makes the practice of law more than the business of running a successful law office.”
In addition to the accolades bestowed upon him by his legal colleagues, Cadenhead has been honored numerous times by his alma mater. In 2002, he was named a lifetime member of the West Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees. He was awarded the University’s highest honor, the Founders Award, in 2001 and was presented with a Distinguished Service Award by the UWG Alumni Association in 1992.
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