The law firm of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC has hired Vanderbilt alumnus Bryan Pieper as the firm’s newest attorney in labor and employment law and commercial litigation.

Pieper will focus on dispute resolution and dispute prevention through measures such as policy preparation, HR training and corporate compliance. He is also an experienced Rule 31 Civil Mediator. His commercial litigation practice involves a variety of business areas, including corporate officer and director liability, fraud, theft of trade secrets, breach of contract, copyright infringement and antitrust violations.

Prior to joining Bone McAllester Norton, Pieper was an owner of the law firm DHPM PC, formerly Drescher and Sharp P.C. His early career was an attorney with Stokes, Bartholomew, Evans and Petree (now Adams & Reese).

Barrett assumes leadership of state bankers association

Colin Barrett is the new president of the Tennessee Bankers Association, assuming the position this week following a yearlong transition plan put into effect by the organization’s board of directors.

Barrett previously was TBA executive vice president, responsible for government relations work in Nashville and Washington as well as member relations with the 216 banks operating in Tennessee. He joined the association in 2005 as director of member services after working with the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., as regional membership manager, where he was responsible for coordinating grassroots efforts throughout the country.

Barrett succeeds longtime TBA executive Bradley L. Barrett, his father, who last year announced his retirement effective Oct. 31. Brad Barrett first joined TBA in 1973 as assistant manager and director of education and was named president in 1992.

Colin Barrett earned an M.A. degree in political management from George Washington University and his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee.

He previously served as regional development manager for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, serving in this position under U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va. In this position, he coordinated and managed a nationwide fundraising program with U.S. senators.

DSi appoint director of employee happiness

Electronic discovery company DSi (formerly Document Solutions, Inc.) has promoted Mandy Ham to director of employee happiness. She has been with DSi for more than three years and has a degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee.

As a reinforcement of DSi’s core purpose, “eDiscovery about people,” the director of employee happiness was created by DSi to make sure employee morale, appreciation and retention remain a priority. Ham’s new role will include planning employee morale events, appreciation programs and training opportunities. She will also be responsible for aspects of human resources, including onboarding and mediation.

Ham is developing “DSi University,” which is a learning resource and training suite to encourage professional growth for employees. Additionally, the company has created a companywide book club, starting with a nationally recognized business performance book. Groups will come up with ideas from the book to improve the company; the chosen contribution will be implemented, and the winners will receive a prize.

Hunter to lead CapStar’s comm. real estate group

Lee Hunter has been appointed director of CapStar’s Commercial Real Estate Group. In addition, CapStar has hired two portfolio managers and a loan operations specialist in the credit department, as well as a senior risk officer to support CapStar’s enhanced private banking strategy.

Hunter is a graduate of Father Ryan High School with a business/finance degree from Auburn University and a MBA from Middle Tennessee State University. His first position in commercial real estate was with Maryland Farms Development Company, then with The Hunter Company, a real estate services firm offering permanent loan placement, appraisal and real estate tax consulting.

He subsequently joined NationsBank (now Bank of America).

Kelli Beisel is the new senior risk officer for retail and private banking. Beisel comes from SunTrust, where for nearly 10 years she was senior vice president and credit advisory services manager in the Private Wealth Management group for Tennessee and North Carolina. She also has worked in credit at Wachovia Corporation in Charleston and Atlanta.

Jay Bingham and Susan Hannon join the credit department as portfolio managers.

Bingham was most recently a vice president and senior client manager at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. He was also a relationship manager at Fifth Third Bank and a Credit Asset Manager with Ford Motor Credit Company. After earning a degree in business administration and accounting at Belmont University, he began his career at Bank of America in Retail Loan Services.

Hannon joins CapStar from Reliant Bank, where she was a senior credit underwriter. She also held a number of positions at SouthTrust Bank in Columbus, Ga., Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., analyzing commercial credits.

Ragen Russell joins CapStar as a loan operations specialist. Russell was formerly a loan assistant in special assets with First Tennessee Bank in Sevierville. She holds a degree in administration and finance from Gardner-Webb University.

Cabedge Design Company hires creative strategist

Cabedge Design, LLC, a subsidiary of Atiba Holdings, LLC, has hired David Saunders as the newest addition to its creative team.

Saunders joins as creative strategist and brings experience in strategic graphic design, illustration, interactive marketing and front-end development.

Saunders is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in fine arts and graphic design. Before joining the Cabedge team, he worked as a graphic designer and marketing assistant at University of Tennessee RecSports.

Private wealth manager joins Fifth Third Bank

Rob Cook, a 15-year retail and private banking manager, has joined Fifth Third Bank Tennessee’s Investment Advisors division as director of private banking sales. Cook and commercial and investment advisors executive Renee Drake will team to manage the bank’s Tennessee private banking operations.

As the director of private banking sales, Cook will be managing a team of private bankers and wealth management advisors, and partnering with the bank’s trust advisors and portfolio managers to serve high-net-worth clients.

He comes to Fifth Third from Regions Bank, serving as senior vice president and private wealth management team leader since 2010.

Inner Design Studio hires two, promotes one

Inner Design Studio, a Nashville-based health care interior design firm, has added staff designers Teal Nabors and Shelley Blume to its team, and promoted Alli Hughey from project designer to senior project designer.

As staff designers, Blume and Nabors will assist the design team with the selection and specifications of project design elements, project submittals and construction documents, and AutoCAD and Revit drawings.

Blume, who interned with the design firm in 2012, came to Inner Design Studio from DirectBuy of Cool Springs, where she worked as an interior designer and showroom consultant. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in interior design.

Nabors, who also served as an intern for Inner Design Studio, comes to the firm as a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s interior design program. Her previous design experience includes serving as an interior design assistant for Woodchuck’s Fine Furniture & Décor based in Jacksonville, Fla.

During her last eight years as staff designer, Hughey has completed nearly 100 design projects for Inner Design Studio. In her new role as senior project designer, she will oversee a team of staff designers on various projects.

Williams tapped as Tri Star Energy CFO

Nashville-based Tri Star Energy, LLC, a fuel service and convenience store company that operates Twice Daily and Daily’s brands in Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, has appointed R. Jeffrey Williams as chief financial officer.

Williams, who has held financial roles at several Nashville-based publicly traded companies for the past 20 years, most recently served as chief financial officer for O’Charley’s Inc.

LeMarbre joins Regions as VP, wealth advisor

Regions Bank has announced the appointment of Eric LeMarbre to the position of vice president and wealth advisor for Nashville and Middle Tennessee. In this role, LeMarbre will focus on total wealth management for high net worth individuals and families, providing solutions for multidimensional personal and business finances.

LeMarbre, a native of Hendersonville, brings a diverse background including public accounting, faith-based nonprofit work and nonprofit startup consulting. Prior to joining Regions, he held positions at Arthur Andersen, Cru and The Fellows Initiative, and spent time as an independent consultant. LeMarbre played a key role in the development of The Nashville Fellows Program and continues to volunteer with the organization today.

Legal Aid Society hires grant administrator

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest non-profit law firm, has hired Derria Ford as the grant administrator.

Ford was previously the Title III coordinator at Meharry Medical College. She also served as interim fiscal officer and budget analyst at Meharry Medical College’s Department of Psychiatry.

Ford holds a degree in psychology and an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University.