Chase Vaughn didn’t follow a typical path to becoming an attorney.
But it sure hasn’t taken him long to establish a foothold in the legal community now that he’s arrived.
The Iola native, who started his legal career in the fall of 2022, has been promoted to partner with Iola attorney Bob Johnson, creating Johnson Vaughn PA, effective Jan. 1.
“I’ve loved being back home,” Vaughn said. “My family loves it. We really feel like a part of the community. And I think the world of Bob. He’s been an amazing mentor.”
The feeling is mutual, Johnson replied.
“Chase is a rare find,” Johnson said. “Even after only being with me for 2½ years, he has earned the respect of some of the most experienced and well respected attorneys in southeast Kansas. I am very happy to make him a named partner.”
Vaughn, 33, harbored a love of the legal industry as a youth, but knew as a young parent pursuing a law degree would need to be relegated to the background.
Vaughn, the son of Angela Henry and Dennis Vaughn, graduated from Iola High School in 2010. From there he attended Allen Community College for one year before transferring to the University of Kansas.
After college, he worked for Bank of America in Kansas City from 2015 to 2018, until moving to Little Rock, Ark., where he continued in banking and began to take law classes at night at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.
The schedule had him burning the candle at both ends. He and wife Brooke — the former Brooke Harrington of Iola — would start the day by getting their children ready for daycare or school. From there, Chase would head to the bank, until 5:30 or so.
Then, the rest of the evening was spent either in classes or studying.
“My day would usually end around 10:30,” he noted.
Fast forward to 2022. As Vaughn studied for the bar exam, he visited with Johnson, who offered him a job on the spot.
“We are going through COVID and all that, and we really wanted to get out of the city,” Vaughn noted. “The idea of coming back home looked more and more attractive.”
The Vaughns moved to Iola, and Chase passed the bar exam with flying colors. He started at the law firm that September.
