Riverfront Plaza
1 Allied Dr. Suite 1110 
Little Rock, AR 72202-2043 

Phone: 501-680-8014 

Fax: 501-375-1027

Click here to email Sheffield

Current Position and Duties within the Firm:  Business Law

Admissions: 1968, Arkansas; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, 1968.

Legal Associations/Professional Memberships: Pulaski County Bar Association; Arkansas Bar Association; American Bar Association.

Education: Arkansas State Teachers College (now University of Central Arkansas), B.S. in Mathematics, 1963; Arkansas Law School, LL.B., 1968; University of Arkansas School of Law, J.D., 1969; University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 1982.

Accomplishment/Awards: Jaycees’ Ten Outstanding Young Men in Arkansas in 1973; Jaycees’ Ten Outstanding Young Men in America, 1974; Who’s Who in America, 1978-2012; Arkansas Citizen of the Year by the March of Dimes,1983; the National Conference of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Award, 1983. UCA Distinguished Alumnus, 1986; Who's Who in American Law, 1992-2008; Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in Natural Gas Producing, Transmission and Distribution Companies by the Wall Street Transcript; Top Management Award from the Little Rock Sales and Marketing Executives Association, 1977; Harold Alexander Award as Conservationist of the Year from the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, 2002; Philanthropist of the Year from the Arkansas Chapter of the American Lung Association, 2003; and Ducks Unlimited/Jerry Jones Outstanding Service Award, 2007; Arkansan of the Year, 2010 by Easter Seals of Arkansas.

Club or Civic Memberships/Community Involvement: Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights Member, 1982; Pulaski County Bar Board of Directors Member, 1982-1983 and 1985-1986; Volunteers Organization Center for Arkansas Legal Services Member, 1985-2007; Member of the Listed Company Advisory Committee, New York Stock Exchange, 1983-1984; Former President of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce; Vice-Chairman of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, 1986-1987; Chairman of the Economic Expansion Study Commission, 1987; Chairman of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, 1987-1988; Phi Alpha Delta Member; Arkansas Gubernatorial Candidate for the Republican Party, 1990; Arkansas Gubernatorial Candidate for the Republican Party, 1994; Member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission 2000–2007, Chairman 2006-2007; Run for Their Lives Benefit Gala Co-Chair with wife, Mary Lynn, 2007; Board of Higher Education; Co-Chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas in 1991-1992; Republican National Committeeman from Arkansas in 1993-2000. Chairman of Committee for a Better Arkansas in 1976; Chairman of Citizens United Against Gambling in 1984; Board of Arkansas Children’s Hospital; and Director of the Little Rock Branch, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in 1985-1986; Chairman, Easter Seals Arkansan of the Year, 2009.

Biography:

Sheffield Nelson was born in Keevil, Arkansas, in Monroe County, near Brinkley. He graduated from Brinkley High School in 1959, where he was president of the student body. Mr. Nelson graduated from Arkansas State Teacher’s College in 1963, where he was also president of the student body. Mr. Nelson went on to graduate from the Arkansas Law School in 1968 and the University of Arkansas School of Law at Little Rock in 1969.

Mr. Nelson began his career in 1963 as a management trainee with Arkla, Inc. Subsequently, he served as Sales Manager, Vice-President, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure as President and Chairman, 1973-1984, he was named the Outstanding Gas Utility Chief Executive in America by the Wall Street Transcript. He was praised widely in National Gas Industry and Business Publications for holding down gas prices through a system he created known as “Replacement Cost Pricing,” which resulted in significantly smaller gas bills for residential customers. Mr. Nelson joined Jack, Lyon & Jones, P.A., now JACK NELSON JONES, PLLC., in 1986.

A long-time advocate of economic development, Mr. Nelson was President of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Chairman of the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 1985 to 1986. Under Mr. Nelson’s leadership as Arkansas Industrial Development Commission’s Vice-Chairman and, later, Chairman, over 37,000 net new jobs were created for the people of the State of Arkansas during his tenure. Mr. Nelson served as Chairman of the Economic Expansion Study Commission in 1987, and as Vice Chairman of the Committee for Arkansas’ Future, working on the successful revenue bond amendment.

Mr. Nelson founded and was the first president of Junior Achievement in Arkansas, which takes businessmen into the classrooms of the state to introduce business principles and practices to Arkansas students. He also founded and raised the funds for Arkansas Service Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides college scholarships up to $2,500 a year for any Arkansas student who lost a parent in service to city, county, state or federal government. He has raised funds for numerous organizations, including United Way of Pulaski County, Arkansas Heart Association, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, Advocates for Battered Women, Arkansas Opera Theatre, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the American Lung Association, Arkansas Chapter.

Mr. Nelson has given a part of himself back to the State of Arkansas through his community leadership, civic service and education support. As a result, he has received numerous awards and honors. He served as a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 1982, and has been selected to Who’s Who in America each year since 1978 and Who’s Who in The World most years since 1982.

Mr. Nelson is an ardent hunter and fisherman. He was appointed as a member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission by Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2000 and served as Chairman in 2006-2007. Mr. Nelson also previously served as a member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Board of Directors, the non-profit, fund-raising auxiliary of the AGFC. 1.

Mr. Nelson is married to the former Mary Lynn McCastlain, also of Brinkley, who is a talented artist and the creator of many of the paintings found in the Little Rock office of Jack Nelson Jones, PLLC and in numerous offices and homes around the state. The Nelsons have two adult daughters who have blessed their lives with thirteen grandchildren.

1. He currently serves a ten year tenure on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, a position that Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed him to in 2016