He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 1988 with an A.B.
[1][2] Nelson then moved to Washington, D.C. where he served as the managing editor of The Public Interest, a domestic-policy quarterly.
[1] Nelson then spent three years as a litigation associate at the firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister in Cincinnati.
[1] As a professor, Nelson focuses his teaching and research on federal courts, constitutional law, legislation, and civil procedure.
[3][4][5] Nelson is the author of the highly cited article "Preemption," which appeared in the March 2000 issue of the Virginia Law Review.