Birmingham, Ala. (January 27, 2014) –Maynard Cooper & Gale is pleased to announce that Drayton Nabers has been appointed as the new Director of the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership at Samford University. Nabers was named following a national search to replace the founding director who resigned last year.

“The firm congratulates Drayton on this new role, and we know he will do an outstanding job,” said Mark Drew, Maynard Cooper Managing Shareholder. “Drayton’s background as an accomplished lawyer, business person, public servant, author and teacher, as well as being a person of the highest ethical standards, makes him the ideal candidate for this role. We are also very glad that Drayton will continue his association with our firm going forward.”

The Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership is an endowed, university-wide unit that promotes student development and enriches teaching and scholarship in the university's 10 academic schools. As director, Nabers will work to ensure that Samford University’s principles of ethics are maintained throughout the University as a whole.

Nabers is currently a Shareholder in Maynard Cooper’s Birmingham office. He has practiced law with Maynard Cooper for seven years, and will be continuing with the firm in an Of Counsel role. Nabers’ successful career spans several different industries and roles. He joined Birmingham-based Protective Life Corp. in 1979 and became the chief executive officer in 1992.

He retired as chairman of the board from Protective Life in 2002. He subsequently served as finance director for the State of Alabama until being named to the Supreme Court in 2004. He served two years as chief justice before returning to private practice in 2006. Nabers is the author of two books on ethics and leadership: The Case for Character and The Hidden Key to Happiness.