Ozro Thaddeus "OT" Wells, Esq. (Deceased)
Ozro Thaddeus Wells (O.T.) graduated from the public school system in Greensboro, North Carolina; received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia (1953); and received his law degree from Boston University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts (1956).
Attorney Wells served in the U.S. Army in the Signal Corps in its meteorology department, and also as an instructor in weather observations; he was honorably discharged from the armed forces in 1958.
In 1958 Mr. Wells was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, and was employed by the Wall Street law firm, of Fink & Pavia, New York, NY, now Harcourt & Pavia. In 1959 Mr. Wells was admitted to the New York Bar and joined with noted attorneys, William C. Chance, Jr. and Nathan Mitchell, which became Chance, Mitchell & Wells, one of the first minority law firms in the lower Manhattan court district focusing on criminal defense. In 1962 Mr. Wells joined with Attorney R. Franklin Brown and established the firm of Wells & Brown which later became, Wells, Brown, Mason, Bums & Hall, which focused on criminal defense, personal injury cases and whatever else that came in the office. (Wells, Mason and Hall Morehouse Alumni)
During the height of the Civil Rights Era, Wells was co-counsel, along with Attorneys Percy Sutton and Mark Lane, in the first sit-in cases, which strangely enough, occurred in New York City. Later, Mr. Wells represented one of the leading civil rights organizations, the Council for Racial Equality (CORE); he also represented attorneys; judges; elected officials; notorious Harlem underworld persons such as "Bumpy" Elsworth Johnson; "Red" Dillard Morrison; members of the clergy; members of the medical/dental professions; the "Five Percenters", a splinter group of the Black Muslims; and represented extremists and various other so called radicals such as H. Rap Brown and his associates; and was counsel for the late great jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis. Mr. Wells also has served as a Special Referee of the New York State Supreme Court for incompetent cases by appointment of the Appellate Division, First Department.
In the early 1970's Attorney Wells was pressed into service for the Department of Defense by the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, to go to Germany with a delegation of three attorneys on a fact finding mission designated "Operation Awareness." President Nixon's appointment gave a temporary GS rating to Wells that had the equivalency of a Major General, with a mandate to investigate problems that had arisen between Black United States military personnel and German nationals.
Mr. Wells was called upon again during the turbulent era of Watergate when Ozro Thaddeus Wells, then the President of the National Bar Association, became a member of the designated Attorney General Elliot Richardson's five-man advisory group, which led to the selection of the first Watergate Prosecutor, Archibald Cox.
Later in Mr. Wells' career, he was the lead trial attorney for the historical litigation to resolve the leadership of The Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal denomination in the world. And subsequently, Wells was instrumental in setting up the first constitutional convention for the church, which resulted in establishing the offices of the General Board and Presiding Bishop. Wells has served as General Counsel for the Church, and also has served as counsel to the Presiding Bishop and the General Board of the Church of God in Christ.
Attorney Wells has been President of the National Bar Association; the National Bar Foundation); the national president of the National Association of Guardsmen, a national social group. O.T. is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; and, a founding member of the National Negro Golf Association, the oldest African American golf association in the world.
Attorney Wells is a member of the bars of the state of New York; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits; and, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. For the last eighteen years he has served as a guest faculty member in the Trial Advocacy program for the New York County District Attorney at the request of past District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau and current District Attorney, Cyrus Vance.
Mr. Wells is presently "Of Counsel" to the prestigious law firm of Donaldson & Chilliest, LLP., 1825 Park Avenue, New York, NY.(212)722- 4900. Attorney Wells now practices law on a limited basis, not retired, just tired.
Mr. Wells is a member of Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity Inc.
Attorney Wells served in the U.S. Army in the Signal Corps in its meteorology department, and also as an instructor in weather observations; he was honorably discharged from the armed forces in 1958.
In 1958 Mr. Wells was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, and was employed by the Wall Street law firm, of Fink & Pavia, New York, NY, now Harcourt & Pavia. In 1959 Mr. Wells was admitted to the New York Bar and joined with noted attorneys, William C. Chance, Jr. and Nathan Mitchell, which became Chance, Mitchell & Wells, one of the first minority law firms in the lower Manhattan court district focusing on criminal defense. In 1962 Mr. Wells joined with Attorney R. Franklin Brown and established the firm of Wells & Brown which later became, Wells, Brown, Mason, Bums & Hall, which focused on criminal defense, personal injury cases and whatever else that came in the office. (Wells, Mason and Hall Morehouse Alumni)
During the height of the Civil Rights Era, Wells was co-counsel, along with Attorneys Percy Sutton and Mark Lane, in the first sit-in cases, which strangely enough, occurred in New York City. Later, Mr. Wells represented one of the leading civil rights organizations, the Council for Racial Equality (CORE); he also represented attorneys; judges; elected officials; notorious Harlem underworld persons such as "Bumpy" Elsworth Johnson; "Red" Dillard Morrison; members of the clergy; members of the medical/dental professions; the "Five Percenters", a splinter group of the Black Muslims; and represented extremists and various other so called radicals such as H. Rap Brown and his associates; and was counsel for the late great jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis. Mr. Wells also has served as a Special Referee of the New York State Supreme Court for incompetent cases by appointment of the Appellate Division, First Department.
In the early 1970's Attorney Wells was pressed into service for the Department of Defense by the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, to go to Germany with a delegation of three attorneys on a fact finding mission designated "Operation Awareness." President Nixon's appointment gave a temporary GS rating to Wells that had the equivalency of a Major General, with a mandate to investigate problems that had arisen between Black United States military personnel and German nationals.
Mr. Wells was called upon again during the turbulent era of Watergate when Ozro Thaddeus Wells, then the President of the National Bar Association, became a member of the designated Attorney General Elliot Richardson's five-man advisory group, which led to the selection of the first Watergate Prosecutor, Archibald Cox.
Later in Mr. Wells' career, he was the lead trial attorney for the historical litigation to resolve the leadership of The Church of God in Christ, the largest African American Pentecostal denomination in the world. And subsequently, Wells was instrumental in setting up the first constitutional convention for the church, which resulted in establishing the offices of the General Board and Presiding Bishop. Wells has served as General Counsel for the Church, and also has served as counsel to the Presiding Bishop and the General Board of the Church of God in Christ.
Attorney Wells has been President of the National Bar Association; the National Bar Foundation); the national president of the National Association of Guardsmen, a national social group. O.T. is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; and, a founding member of the National Negro Golf Association, the oldest African American golf association in the world.
Attorney Wells is a member of the bars of the state of New York; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits; and, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. For the last eighteen years he has served as a guest faculty member in the Trial Advocacy program for the New York County District Attorney at the request of past District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau and current District Attorney, Cyrus Vance.
Mr. Wells is presently "Of Counsel" to the prestigious law firm of Donaldson & Chilliest, LLP., 1825 Park Avenue, New York, NY.(212)722- 4900. Attorney Wells now practices law on a limited basis, not retired, just tired.
Mr. Wells is a member of Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity Inc.