He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School.

He also worked as an economics professor at the University of Richmond.

From May 1977 to February 1979, he served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.

[4] He then served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1979 to 1981.

[5] After the end of the Carter administration, Shenefield became a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius,[6] where he served as chair from 1996 – 1999, retiring in 2008.