U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee, U.S. Department of Justice
Braden Boucek was sworn in on December 24, 2025, as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Prior to becoming United States Attorney, Mr. Boucek served as the senior vice president of litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation having previously served as the vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center. Mr. Boucek has extensive experience as a prosecutor, starting his career at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office before serving for two years as an Assistant District Attorney General in Williamson County. He was a federal prosecutor for ten years, first serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005 to 2011. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Boucek was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, the district he now leads as the United States Attorney.
United States Attorney, Western District of Tennessee
D. Michael Dunavant is currently serving for the second time as the Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and was sworn into office on October 10, 2025. In that role, he is the 50th and 54th person to serve as the chief federal prosecutor and legal representative of the United States for the 22 counties and approximately 1.6 million citizens of West Tennessee. Mr. Dunavant is the first person to serve the district twice as the Presidential appointee, having previously served as U.S. Attorney from 2017–2021 during the first Trump administration. In addition to his service as the U.S. Attorney, Mr. Dunavant has served as the Deputy Executive Director of Legal Services & Policy for the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference from 2023-2025; the Chief Investigative Counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Division of Investigations from 2021-2023; and the elected District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District of Tennessee, where he served as the chief state criminal prosecutor for Lauderdale, Tipton, Fayette, Hardeman, and McNairy counties in West Tennessee from 20062017. Prior to his service as District Attorney, Mr. Dunavant was a partner in the law firm of Carney, Wilder & Dunavant in Ripley, Tennessee. A native of Ripley, Mr. Dunavant holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree with honors from the University of Mississippi at Oxford, and has been practicing law in Tennessee since 1995.
United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Brian Lea is a district judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Before taking the bench, Judge Lea served as Deputy Associate Attorney General in President Trump’s second administration. Prior to his public service, Judge Lea was a partner with the Issues and Appeals practice of Jones Day. He also served on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law, where his research and publications focused on the operation of the federal courts. Judge Lea began his legal career with two clerkships, one for Justice Clarence Thomas and the other with Judge Ed Carnes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Lea graduated first in his class from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as an editor on the Law Review. He earned his undergraduate degree from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.
Panel 3: Making a Federal Case of It: Tennessee's Chief Law and Civil Rights Enforcers Speak
2026 Tennessee Chapters Conference
Nashville, TN