The TBA Young Lawyers Division met last week at the TBA's 2025 Annual Convention in Franklin. On Friday, the traditional gavel pass was held as Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Alex McVeagh took office as president. Others taking office were President-elect Jennifer Sneed of Memphis, Vice President Darius Walker Jr. of Nashville, Secretary Judge Zachary Walden of Jacksboro and Treasurer Ashley Tipton of Nashville. The group also held its Annual Meeting and a CLE program on the State of DEI in the Legal Profession. The 2025-2026 Board met on Saturday for a wellness walk, committee planning sessions and its first board meeting.

On Friday evening, both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 boards met for dinner at Sperry's. They were joined by the YLD Fellows for the induction of new fellows and members of the DLI Class of 2025 for their graduation.

During the evening, outgoing president Sean Aiello presented a number of awards. The President's Award was given to Nashville attorney Patrick Morrison for his work on developing the YLD CLE Exploration Series and his tremendous efforts as the health and wellness coordinator. The Public Service awards were presented to Nashville attorney Ashley Tipton for her dedication to and expansion of the mock trial program; and Nashville attorney Alix Rogers and Judge Zack Walden for implementation of the YLD's first Rural Judicial Fellows (RJF) Program. Six board members also were recognized with Star of the Quarter Awards. They were Grace Burnett for service as District 8 representative, Billy Leslie for service as past president, Judge Alex McVeagh for service as president-elect, Jen Sneed for service as vice president,  Amber Vargas for service as District 6 representative, and Kristen Walker for service as the Middle Tennessee CLE chair.

Left: Sean Aiello (left) and Grace Burnett
Right: Sean Aiello (left) and Billy Leslie

Left: Sean Aiello (left) and Judge Alex McVeagh
Right: Sean Aiello (left) and Jennifer Sneed

Left: Sean Aiello (left) and Amber Vargas
Right: Sean Aiello (left) and Kristen Walker

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Left: Sean Aiello (left), Judge Zachary Walden and Alix Rogers
Right: Sean Aiello (left) and Ashley Tipton

Left: Sean Aiello (left) and Judge Lee Bussart
Right: Sean Aiello (left) and Patrick Morrison

From left: Terica Smith, Billy Leslie, Judge Alex McVeagh and Ahsaki Baptist at the annual gavel pass

From left: Princess Rogers, Levi Mauldin, Patrick Morrison, Laura Labenberg, Grace Burnett, Molly Green, Jennifer Sneed and Sheree Wright at the Wellness Walk