Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman received a law degree in 1974 from the Vanderbilt School of Law.  At Vanderbilt, she was awarded the Order of the Coif.  After earning a law degree, she served as law clerk for Justice William J. Harbison of the Tennessee Supreme Court and then became the only female lawyer at the office of the District Attorney for Davidson County.

Chancellor Bonnyman was invited to become a fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation and the Tennessee Bar Foundation.  She is a member of the local and state bar association and the American Bar Association.  In 1981, she was a founding member of the Lawyers Association for Women and she served as its first president.

Chancellor Bonnyman was appointed to the Chancery bench by Governor Phil Bredesen in September 2003.  She was elected by the popular vote in 2004 to serve the balance of the Chancellor Irvin Kilcrease’s term.  In 2006, she was re-elected to the Chancery bench without opposition.  She was appointed Clerk and Master for Chancery in 1989 and was reappointed by the then sitting chancellors in 1995 and 2001.  Before working in Chancery, she was a partner with Ortale, Kelly, Herbert and Crawford and earlier, a partner at Waddey and Jennings.  She served as Assistant District Attorney in the office of the District Attorney Tom Shriver.

Chancellor Bonnyman married Gordon Bonnyman, Jr., in 1970.  He is director of the non-profit Tennessee Justice Center.  They have one son, Houston Gordon Bonnyman.  She attends Belmont United Methodist Church.