LEAGUE CITY & GALVESTON, TEXAS: Most law firms talk about experience. Tad Nelson & Associates doesn’t have to.
Licensed to practice law in Texas since 1991, Tad Nelson built his reputation the old-fashioned way, by trying the cases nobody else wanted and winning. From 1992 to 1995, Nelson served as a felony prosecutor at the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office under District Attorney Mike Guarino, handling cases in the 10th Judicial District Court. In three years, he tried 39 jury cases and lost exactly one, a misdemeanor case that went to Ervin Apffel, a legendary Galveston trial attorney who had been winning cases long before Nelson ever walked into a courtroom. The jury came back not guilty but made a point to pull Nelson aside and tell him they believed he had proven his case. The alleged victim, in their words, deserved to be hit.
On June 1, 1995, Nelson made his move. He crossed to the defense side of the bar and founded Tad Nelson & Associates, with offices in League City and Galveston, Texas. He brought with him an intimate understanding of how prosecutors think, how they construct a case, and precisely where their arguments are vulnerable, an advantage that would prove devastating for the other side.
Word travels fast inside a courthouse. Once Nelson was out on his own, the elected District Court judges took notice. Rather than sending him home-cooked cases, they began steering their most demanding felony assignments, sexual assault cases, murder cases, the ones that defined careers, directly to his desk. He took every one of them. That kind of trust from the bench, earned not by seniority but by proven performance, became a defining feature of Nelson’s early years in private practice and the foundation upon which everything that followed was built.
In 1996, Nelson earned Board Certification in Criminal Law through the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a credential requiring demonstrated courtroom experience, peer evaluation, rigorous continuing education, and a demanding written examination. The ink had barely dried before he began proving what that certification meant in practice.
Between late 1998 and early 2000, Tad Nelson put together one of the most remarkable runs in Texas criminal defense history: 18 consecutive not guilty verdicts. Eighteen. In a row. In felony criminal defense, where the government holds every structural advantage, where careers are made on a single win, Nelson strung together a streak that remains virtually unheard of in this state. It wasn’t luck. It was preparation, precision, and a prosecutor’s understanding of exactly what the state needed to prove and how to dismantle it piece by piece.
That run was a signal, not a ceiling. Nelson has since tried more than 400 jury trials throughout his career. That number is not a marketing figure. It is a record-built case by case over three decades of refusing to back down.
A comfortable practice and a respected name in the community would have been enough for most attorneys. Tad Nelson is not most attorneys. Throughout his career, Nelson has made it a habit to seek out the most demanding legal education seminars in the country, traveling wherever he needed to go to sharpen his knowledge and deepen his courtroom edge. Between 2010 and 2014, that pursuit took on a new dimension entirely.
In February of 2014, Nelson completed a rigorous, multi-year curriculum and became the first non-teacher of the course to earn the designation of Lawyer Scientist from the American Chemical Society, a credential achieved through five intensive trips to Chicago and hands-on training inside the renowned, fully operational laboratory of Dr. Edward Polite. The program spanned two and a half years of layered, on-site scientific instruction that few attorneys in the country have ever undertaken, let alone completed.
He wasn’t finished. In December of 2016, Nelson added a Master’s in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida to his résumé, cementing his place in a category of legal professionals that virtually no opposing counsel can match.
When the government puts its chemists and scientific experts on the stand, most defense attorneys hope for the best. Tad Nelson walks in knowing exactly what they’re going to say, and exactly how to take it apart. He understood that years ago, and it still drives him today. You fight fire with fire.
Eight years ago, Nelson made what many consider one of the best decisions in the firm’s history: bringing Amber Spurlock on as Managing Partner. What most people in the room don’t realize is that before she ever stepped into a Texas courtroom, Spurlock was already trying cases in places most attorneys only read about in the news.
A former Judge Advocate General in the United States Air Force, Spurlock didn’t just serve. She deployed. To Baghdad. To the Red Zone. Where she stood before Iraqi courts and presented cases in one of the most volatile legal environments on earth. Before that, she prosecuted Courts-Martial and served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, trying cases in federal court. By the time most young attorneys are still finding their footing, Spurlock had already litigated across three legal systems on two continents.
She came home to Galveston, her home, and brought every bit of that experience into private practice. Her practice today spans criminal law, family law, juvenile law, military law, and criminal appeals, making her one of the most versatile and formidable attorneys in Southeast Texas. She is particularly committed to those the system too often overlooks: veterans, juveniles, and individuals battling mental health challenges who find themselves in the crosshairs of criminal prosecution. That combination of toughness and purpose is not common.
And like Nelson, Spurlock didn’t stop at courtroom experience. She is one of a select few attorneys in the country accredited as a Forensic Lawyer-Scientist by the American Chemical Society, the same credential Nelson earned, and one that demands a level of scientific rigor most lawyers never pursue. Across nearly twenty years of practice, she has taught at numerous legal and professional seminars, bringing that same depth of knowledge to the broader legal community.
Her military background has reinforced a firm culture where preparation and accountability are non-negotiable. With Spurlock as Managing Partner, Tad Nelson & Associates operates with the same discipline she carried into the Red Zone, and the same commitment she brings to every client who walks through the door.
Rounding out the team is Office Manager Shelly Darnell, and her connection to the legal world runs deeper than her title suggests. A Galveston native who grew up in a family rooted in law enforcement, Shelly found her calling early. As an eleventh-grade student at Ball High School, she enrolled in the school’s Vocational Office Education program, and by her senior year was already working part-time at UTMB. Shortly before graduation in 1984, her instructor Ms. Borsellino recommended her for a position at Dibrell & Dibrell, one of Galveston’s established law firms, and the legal profession never let her go.
She remained with Dibrell & Dibrell until 1995, when Judge Trey Dibrell was elected to County Court at Law No. 2. Shelly followed him there, stepping into the role of Court Coordinator and managing the operational demands of an active county courtroom until 2006. When she decided it was time for a change, she brought more than two decades of legal experience through the doors of Tad Nelson & Associates, and she hasn’t left since. Her command of the firm’s daily operations ensures that every client, every case, and every deadline receives the attention it demands.
Nelson’s professional affiliations, including the Texas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, National College for DUI Defense, Harris County Bar Association, Galveston County Bar Association, and State Bar College, reflect a career defined by continuous engagement with the highest levels of criminal defense practice in the country. For more information, visit www.tadlaw.com.
After more than thirty years, the mission at Tad Nelson & Associates remains exactly what it was on day one: put the most prepared, most experienced, and most battle-tested legal team in front of every client who walks through the door. That hasn’t changed. It never will
About Tad Nelson & Associates
Tad Nelson & Associates is a criminal defense and family law firm with offices in League City and Galveston, Texas. Founded in 1995 by Board Certified Criminal Law specialist and Lawyer Scientist Tad Nelson, the firm has spent more than three decades building a reputation one verdict at a time. The firm is led by Managing Partner Amber Spurlock, a former Judge Advocate General in the United States Air Force, ACS-accredited Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, and trial attorney with nearly two decades of experience across military, federal, and civilian courts. Its criminal practice spans the full spectrum, felony and misdemeanor cases, DWI defense, drug charges, violent crimes, and federal charges, and has since expanded to include divorce, child custody, and personal injury. Whatever the matter, the approach never changes: preparation, precision, and an absolute refusal to be outworked.