David Waddell is a native of Cookeville, TN and a graduate of Lipscomb University and the University Of Tennessee College Of Law. He began his career as staff attorney for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in 1981 becoming Assistant Commissioner in 1986.
He left state government in 1994 to be the vice-president of what is now Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1996 he was named Executive Secretary of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority. He entered the private practice of law in 2003 with the firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, focusing on creditor's rights and administrative law.
In 2013 he came back to the department of agriculture as counsel and director of regulatory compliance of the Consumer and Industry Services Division.
His activities through the years have included:
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Chairman, Creditor's Section, Tennessee Bar Association, 2008 and 2009
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Adjunct Professor of Business Law, Lipscomb University, 2005
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Vice-Chairman, Staff Sub-committee on Executive Management, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions, 2000 - 2002
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Tennessee Water Quality Control Board, 1990- 1994
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Tennessee Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee, 1994- 1996
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Tennessee Oil Advisory Committee, 1 994 - 1996