Nashville announces changes to law department

Leadership changes are coming to Metro Nashville’s Department of Law. 

Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced current director Wallace “Wally” Dietz will retire from his position in July 2026. Tyler Yarbro has been tapped to succeed Dietz as the department’s director. 

Dietz has headed the law department since 2021. Prior to that, he spent four decades at the Nashville-based law firm Bass, Berry & Sims where he chaired the Compliance and Government Investigations Practice Groups.  

Early in his career, he served as a legislative and media aide to U.S. Senator Jim Sasser and as a judicial clerk for U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr. He received the Nashville Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award in 2002 for his pro bono work in international human rights.  

Yarbro comes to the city from her current role as managing partner of Dodson Parker Behm and Caparella, PC, where she focuses on employment, probate, business and appellate members for nonprofit and government clients. She co-founded the Tennessee Freedom Circle. Prior to entering private practice, she also served as a public defender for Metro Nashville for six years.  

Her appointment is expected to go before the Nashville City Council in June for confirmation with her anticipated start date being July 16.