Kelly J Shackelford, Esq. serves as Chief Counsel of the Liberty Legal Institute (1997-present). LLI was founded by Mr. Shackelford as an organization that fights for religious liberties and protects first amendment rights in the courts in Texas and nationwide. As an expert in constitutional law, Mr. Shackelford has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and Texas Supreme Court in addition to serving as co-counsel in numerous other U.S. Supreme Court cases.
Recently, LLI has been involved in numerous cases, including Van Orden v. Perry, where Mr. Shackelford assisted in heading Amici and oral argument preparation for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in his Ten Commandments Case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Shackelford has assisted the current U.S. Solicitor General as well as former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson in Supreme Court cases, including the victorious American Library Association v. U.S. This case ended in complete victory successfully protecting the right of public libraries across the country to filter pornography from public access computers.
Mr. Shackelford has testified before the U.S. House, U.S Senate and the Texas Legislature. In the Legislative arena, Mr. Shackelford played a major role in drafting and passing the Texas Marriage Amendment and numerous other bills protecting life, family and religious freedom.
Before founding Liberty Legal Institute, Mr. Shackelford was the Regional Coordinator for the Southwest and Mid-America regions of the Rutherford Institute (1993-1997) and the Director of Texas Rutherford (1989-1992). In addition, he has been sought out as an Advisor by the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives and serves as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School teaching religious liberties (1994-present).
Numerous media outlets have sought out his constitutional expertise, including NBC's Today Show, CNN, the National Associated Press, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The O'Reilly Factor, US News and World Report, USA Today, National Associated Press, local ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates across the country, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The L.A. Times, and national talk shows, among many others.
Mr. Shackelford graduated in 1988 from Baylor Law School and earned the highest unadjusted GPA in his Law School class. In undergraduate work, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with cum laude honors from Baylor University in 1985. He is a member of "Who's Who International."