The TBA Young Lawyers Division met last week at the TBA's 2024 Annual Convention in Memphis. On Friday, the group held its Annual Meeting during which Franklin attorney Sean Aiello took office as president. Others taking office were President-elect Alex McVeagh, Hamilton County General Sessions judge; Vice President Jen Sneed of Memphis; Secretary Ross Smith of Nashville and Treasurer Darius Walker Jr. of Nashville. The 2024-2025 YLD Board met on Saturday for committee planning sessions and its first board meeting.

On Friday evening, both the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 boards met for the YLD annual dinner and gavel pass tradition at the Balinese Ballroom. They were joined by the DLI Class of 2024 for their graduation and the YLD Fellows for the induction of new fellows.

During the evening, outgoing president Quinton Thompson presented a number of awards. The President's Award was given to Knoxville attorney Samantha Ellis for her continued work on developing YLD CLE programs and to Nashville attorney Alix Rogers for her contributions as middle Tennessee governor and public services liaison. Distinguished Service Awards were given to Anthony Adewumi, Nicole Grida, Billy Leslie, Patrick Morris and Judge Zack Walden. The Public Service Award was presented to Ariel Anthony, Kevin Christopher and Erin Shackelford for their contributions to Diversity Law Week. The CASA Volunteer of the Year was presented to Kandiss Brown. Finally, six were recognized with Star of the Quarter Awards: Charles Ferguson for service as District 11 representative, Matt Knable for service on the Essential Documents for Essential Workers program, John Murphy for service as grants and sponsorship chair, Savannah Oliver for service as chair of public service, Ashley Tipton for service as mock trial chair, and Darius Walker Jr. for service as treasurer.

After the presentation of awards, The TBALL Class of 2024 joined with the group to continue the festivities.

Left: Quinton Thompson (right) and John Murphy
Right: Quinton Thompson (right) and Nicole Grida

Left: Quinton Thompson and Kandiss Brown (CASA Award Winner)
Right: Quinton Thompson (right) and Hon. Zack Walden

Gavel pass with former YLD presidents

Left: Quinton Thompson and Ashley Tipton
Right: Quinton Thompson and Alix Rogers

Left: Quinton Thompson (right) and Kevin Christopher
Right: New YLD President Sean Aiello (right) presents outgoing President Thompson with award at Friday's Lawyers Lunch

TBALL Class of 2024

Left: Ross Smith (right)  presents outgoing YLD President Quinton Thompson with the disco gavel
Right: John Murphy, Claire Tuley and members of the TBA staff joined the YLD's Health and Wellness Coordinator Patrick Morrison on a walk in downtown Memphis