Chick-fil-A built a quick-service dining empire one chicken sandwich at a time. As one of the key figures behind the scenes of the restaurant giant, B. Lynn Chastain (J.D.’84) often had a front-row seat and provided her own wisdom to the moments that helped shape that empire.

“I went to Chick-fil-A to build a real estate portfolio,” Chastain, who retired as general counsel and senior vice president from the restaurant chain in 2020, said.

Lynn Chastain (J.D.’84) (right) stands with Dean Usha R. Rodrigues and second-year law student Katelyn Klein (left), who moderated the discussion, after the Edith House Lecture.

Recalling a conversation she had with the founder and former chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A, Chastain added, “Truett Cathy said that he wanted to own all of his properties … and I thought that is a brilliant idea.”

During the spring semester, Chastain delivered the 43rd Edith House Lecture and provided students with interesting insights from her own vast experience in order to better prepare them for their futures.

“My career path was sort of unusual, and my whole purpose in being here today is to share some stories about career path, maybe offer a few challenges, but mostly encourage you in the journey that you have ahead,” she said.

At the age of 12, Chastain began her first job as a riverboat hostess at Stone Mountain Park. Her first professional experience out of college was with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, which gave her an inside view of the justice system.

The key moment for Chastain, it would prove, was when she took on real estate law as a young attorney.

“I got hooked up with a little-known client called Chick-fil-A during my tenure at Troutman Sanders and I was invited to join them in 1990 before they ever opened the first free-standing [location],” Chastain said, highlighting that Chick-fil-A stores had exclusively been in shopping malls prior to that time.

Now, Chick-fil-A has more than 3,400 locations across 48 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and the United Kingdom and has plans to expand into Southeast Asia, which is a testament to the legacy Chastain helped build during her 30-year tenure with the restaurant.

The Edith House Lecture is organized by the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers chapter at UGA in honor of one of the first female graduates of the School of Law. House, a native of Winder, Georgia, was co-valedictorian of the law class of 1925, the first to graduate women.

The UGA Law Georgia Association for Women Lawyers chapter benefits from an endowed fund established in 2024 to support programming and activities for the group’s members and the greater law school community.