Stella Yarbrough
Stella Yarbrough is a distinguished civil rights litigator with more than a decade of experience handling high-impact constitutional litigation in state and federal courts. Prior to joining HSGLaW, she served as Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, where she managed transformative litigation involving First Amendment rights, LGBTQ+ equality, voting rights, and government accountability.
Ms. Yarbrough led the legal team in L.W. v. Skrmetti, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. She has also successfully obtained emergency injunctive relief blocking unconstitutional bans on political expression in the Tennessee House of Representatives and struck down ordinances targeting LGBTQ+ communities and Pride events.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Yarbrough worked in the Tennessee Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and served as an Assistant Public Defender with the Metro Nashville Public Defender’s Office.
Stella lives in Nashville with her three children, her partner, and their cat.
Areas Of Practice
- Civil Rights & Constitutional Litigation
- First Amendment Law
- LGBTQ+ Rights
- Voting Rights
- Anti-Discrimination & Equal Protection
- Education & Title IX Litigation
- Appellate Advocacy
Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D. (2014)
Articles Editor, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law; Nichols Human Rights Fund Recipient - Vanderbilt Divinity School, Master of Theological Studies (2014)
Howard Sterling Vanderbilt Scholarship (full tuition) - Pepperdine University, B.A. (2010)
Valedictorian
Languages
English
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee, 2014
Experience
- Former Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee – Managed high-impact constitutional litigation involving First Amendment rights, LGBTQ+ equality, voting rights, and government accountability in state and federal courts
- Lead Counsel, L.W. v. Skrmetti – Directed the legal team in landmark U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth
- Emergency Injunctive Relief – Successfully obtained court orders blocking unconstitutional bans on political expression in the Tennessee House of Representatives and struck down ordinances targeting LGBTQ+ communities and Pride events
- Tennessee Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights – Handled civil rights matters and compliance issues in educational settings
- Assistant Public Defender, Metro Nashville Public Defender’s Office – Represented indigent clients in criminal defense matters in Nashville-Davidson County courts
Professional Honors and Activities
- American Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- Nashville Bar Foundation Leadership Forum (2022)