Roderick K. Nelson
Partner
Areas of Practice:
Biography
Rod has extensive experience in civil litigation, with primary emphasis on insurance law; insurance coverage analysis; extra-contractual damage claims; bad faith; fraud; defense of first-party punitive damage claims against insurance carriers; mediation and arbitration of all types of insurance disputes. He has defended numerous personal injury, products liability, trucking accidents, and wrongful death claims in state and federal court. Rod also has specialized training in arson and insurance fraud civil litigation on behalf of insurance carriers. Rod’s trial experience also includes defending employment cases involving Title VII, sexual and racial discrimination and municipalities in 1983 actions. He also has an extensive background in defending construction matters. Rod has advised several Counties in Alabama facing federal issues involving prison facilities.
While in college at the University of Alabama, Rod earned a football scholarship, where he played and was a graduate assistant for two years, under the legendary Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Rod was awarded Academic All-SEC honors in 1976. He also served as an intern to the late Senator James “Jim” Allen.
Prior to entering private practice, Rod served as Law Clerk to the Honorable James Garrett, Circuit Judge for the Tenth Judicial Circuit. Rod served three years as a Deputy District Attorney in Birmingham, Alabama for Jefferson County. He is a member of the Birmingham Bar Association; Alabama Defense Lawyers Association and Defense Research Institute. He was appointed Special Prosecutor by the Governor and State Attorney General to prosecute fraud and arson for six years.
Rod has been a partner at Spain-Gillon, LLC for twenty-three years. He was an associate at Brown Hudgens Law Firm for three years and partner at Lamar Nelson Law Firm for ten years. He was also a partner at Beers, Anderson, Jackson & Nelson Law Firm for three years before joining Spain-Gillon, LLC.
Rod is AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale Hubbell.
Admissions
- United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
- United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
- United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama
- Alabama State Bar
Education
- J.D., cum laude, Birmingham School of Law, 1983
- M.A., University of Alabama, 1979
- B.A., University of Alabama, 1978