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Background Check | Gulam Zade
Gulam Zade was born in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, in 1985. When he was 7 years old, his family moved to Nashville. He grew up in Hillsboro Village and graduated from John Overton High School. Zade began on a pre-med track in undergrad, first at Belmont and then at Western Kentucky University. However, by his junior year, he realized he hated the sight of blood and was not meant to be a doctor. To pivot, Zade decided being an attorney would be the easiest way for him to build a successful and lucrative career, so he chose law school.
He graduated from college in December 2007. Knowing law school would not start until the fall, Zade needed a job. His childhood best friend told him that his father, Bobby Garfinkle, needed help at his law office in Green Hills. Zade went in for what he thought was an interview but turned out to be his first day on the job when Bobby Garfinkle and John McLemore sent him to work onsite at his first receivership.
Zade attended the University of Louisville for law school. He had no prior connection to the school, but he visited Louisville during Derby weekend and loved it. While attending University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, he traveled back and forth to Nashville and continued to work for Garfinkle, McLemore & Young PLLC (GMY Law). He graduated in May 2011 and began working for the firm full time.
Zade worked for GMY Law for a total of 8 years and specialized in restructuring, corporate insolvency, and bankruptcy. His practice included representing bankruptcy trustees and receivers in both state and federal courts, as well as corporate entities and individuals in out-of-court workouts.
Zade transitioned to an in-house role at LOGICFORCE in 2014 and became the CEO of the regional law firm technology services business in 2018. In 2021, Zade led the sale of LOGICFORCE to Frontline Managed Services, a multi-national company that provides back-office services for law firms. Zade transitioned to the Chief Legal Officer of Frontline following the transaction.
2014 proved to be an important year for Zade and the NBA because it was the start of his journey with the organization. In addition to changing jobs that year, he also became a member of the NBF Leadership Forum’s inaugural class. John McLemore, the unofficial photographer of the NBA, encouraged Zade to be involved with the NBA. When Zade joined the class, many of the class members knew each other, but Zade didn’t have existing connections. He credits a call to John Tarpley, who he knew from a prior case, with getting him into the program. During that year, he became involved with the NBA YLD at the request of a fellow classmate in the forum.
After serving as NBA YLD social
chair for 2 years, he became the YLD president, which led to the NBA board. Once elected to the “big board,” Zade made it clear to his fellow NBA board classmates that he intended to run for president. Perhaps due to that early determination, at the age of 37, Zade became the youngest professional to be elected as NBA President.
As he looks back on his year as president, Zade believes he has made his biggest impact in the hiring of Abby Sparks as Executive Director and the time spent ensuring she is set up for success as she continues to lead the organization. He has also led the development and improvement of many important operational processes.
Zade spends much of his time outside the office with family. He and his wife Julia live in Brentwood, close to their parents and siblings. Zade has 3 awesome children, Alexander, Camille, and Ryan (10, 8, and 4 months). In addition to his nonprofit and bar association work, Zade enjoys coaching his kids in football, basketball and serving as a Scout Leader for his son’s Cub Scout troop.
