Russell Nelms grew up in Sweetwater, Texas. His first brush with business was selling hot dogs and cokes at the annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.

In 1967, his family moved to Roswell, New Mexico. It is no coincidence that during his four years there, not one alien appearance was reported.

Upon graduating from high school, he capitalized on the greatest bargain in higher education. In the 1970s, Texas students could attend any state university at the rate of $3.00 a semester hour. Nelms attended college and law school under this program, while earning extra money as a door-to-door Bible salesman, road construction worker, and hotel night clerk.

Upon graduating from law school, Nelms fulfilled a commitment to the United States Army by serving as a trial lawyer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1978 to 1984. During his time in the Army, he tried more than 125 cases, many involving violent crimes such as murder and rape.

In 1984, Nelms joined Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, a law firm molded in the image of its managing partner, James Coleman. Before practicing law, Coleman had served as an infantry officer in World War II and a CIA agent during the Korean War. Jimmy Coleman was smart, tough and relentless. Nelms spent the next 20 years trying to live up to Coleman’s example. He progressed from trying adversary proceedings in farm and ranch bankruptcy cases to leading large teams of lawyers in bet-the-company litigation.

In 2004 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit appointed Nelms to be a bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Texas. Judge Nelms resolved to treat each case that came before him with the same degree of seriousness and dignity. Today, some of his fondest memories of his time on the bench are cases in which pro se litigants prevailed over seasoned lawyers.