Tim Nelson has practiced law for 20 years. He served as General Counsel to Governor Janet Napolitano, where he advised her on a variety of legal issues and policy matters, including the drafting of veto messages, development and implementation of health and immigration policy, the use of executive orders, and the negotiation and signing of tribal gaming compacts. He also helped successfully defend the Governor in lawsuits, including two before the Arizona Supreme Court brought by members of the Arizona Legislature.

Tim previously served as a Special Counsel to Janet Napolitano when she was Attorney General. He ran her Office's Antitrust Unit and served as Chief Tobacco Counsel, enforcing the state's settlement against the big tobacco companies. Tim was the State's lead negotiator on the final $217 million settlement with Arthur Andersen in the Baptist Foundation investment scandal, won a significant State Supreme Court case allowing consumers to bring their own antitrust actions, and authored each of the Office's three reports on prescription drug prices in Arizona.

Prior to joining the public sector, Tim was in private practice for 12 years. He was a partner in the Phoenix law firm of Brown & Bain, P.A., where he specialized in commercial litigation and antitrust law and coordinated the firm's pro bono efforts. He represented Fortune 500 companies in state and federal litigation and served on a trial team that won a $345 million verdict (before trebling) in an antitrust case against the railroad industry. He was awarded Martindale Hubbell's highest attorney rating (AV).

Tim received a B.A. with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. with honors from George Washington University, where he was a member of The George Washington Law Review. While in law school, Tim served as a legal intern to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tim and his wife Julie have a nine-year old daughter and a six-year old son.