Jeffrey Nelson

Jeffrey Nelson is a co-managing partner at mctlaw and manager of the Firm’s Indian Law Group. He brings more than 25 years of experience working in Washington, DC on Indian law and litigation matters, including as a Senior Attorney at the National Indian Gaming Commission and as an Assistant Solicitor at the Department of Interior.

Jeff now represents tribes and businesses across the country on Indian gaming and tribal governance matters. He also serves as the Assistant Attorney General and as a Corporate Board Member for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma and as a Trustee for the Mattaponi Indian Tribe of Virginia.

Previously, Jeff worked on complex litigation at a large plaintiff-side law firm, where he was appointed as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Montana in that State’s opioid litigation. At the beginning of his legal career, Jeff was an environmental and Indian law lawyer in one of the nation’s largest law firms.

Jeff received a B.S. in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan in 1994 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1997. He earned an LL.M. in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999.

Before becoming a lawyer, Jeff served as a park ranger at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and he still enjoys heading into the woods for a hike.

• District of Columbia
• Maryland
• Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
• Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe
• Mattaponi
• Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians

• University of Michigan Law School, Juris Doctor
• Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. in Advocacy
• University of Michigan, Bachelor of Science

• Indian Law, Tribal Governance, and Native-Owned Businesses
• Indian Gaming
• Tribal Sovereignty