I'm a product of DeKalb County, Georgia. I attended the DeKalb County school system until 11th grade. From 11th and 12th grade I attended George Walton Academy in Monroe, Georgia. After high school, I spent 4 years at the University of Georgia learning about history and watching some good football.
I helped a friend start his own law firm after I graduated from college. I learned a lot from this experience and decided I wanted to become a lawyer. This led me to Cumberland School of Law, part of Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama.
I spent 3 years in Birmingham learning about the law. I took every single litigation class offered at Cumberland Law School. I was a member of both the Trial Advocacy Board and the Moot Court Board. I participated in mock trials at Cumberland, and I represented Cumberland in the American Bar Association's NAAC Moot Court Competition. My Moot Court Team won our regional competition in Dallas and competed in the national finals tournament in Chicago. I became a member of the Order of Barristers because of my oral advocacy and legal writing skills.
At Cumberland I was a member of the American Journal of Trial Advocacy. I rose to the level of Senior Associate Editor. The Journal published one of my papers while I was still a student about when the government can search your electronics during a border crossing. Border Confidential: Why Searches of Laptop Computers at the Border Should Require Reasonable Suspicion, 31 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 137 (2007).
After Cumberland, my wife and I spent a year in Norwich, England, at the University of East Anglia's Norwich School of Law ("UEA"). I studied international law, focusing on intellectual property and information technology law. I received a Master of Laws (LLM, or Legum Magister in fancy Latin) from UEA with distinction. I won the award for the best dissertation, and my dissertation was later published by the McGeorge Law Review. The Virtual Property Problem: What property rights in virtual resources might look like, how they might work, and why they are a bad idea, 41 McGeorge Law Review 281 (2010).
My wife and I moved back to Georgia, and I began working for a locl government lawyer in Covington, Georgia. That firm represented Newton County, Georgia, as well as a number of other governmental organizations. I learned a lot about government law, property law, and environmental law, and tried my first jury trial.
I then worked for Professional Boundaries Inc ("PBI") for about a year as their Chief Legal Officer and Chief Technology Officer. PBI is a small, but national education company focusing on ethics and professionalism training in various professional industries, but primarily within the medical field.
I then opened my own law firm. My law firm focuses on representing regular folks and small businesses. I represent consumers fighting against companies that have lied, cheated, or hurt them. I represent small businesses and guide them through the process of formation and growth. I represent technology startups and the unique issues they face.
At the Nelson Law Chambers LLC, we protect people. We protect property. And we protect small businesses.