Founding Partner
Jack and Bailey founded Aegis because of a desire to wake up each day loving what they do and the people with whom they work. From the members of our team to the clients that allowed us to become trusted members of their teams, that goal has been realized. Each day, Aegis strives to create efficiencies and innovation in legal services that bring better quality of work and drive down legal costs for clients. Aegis serves the space industry because we are passionate about the broader service to humanity that space offers, and we can help democratize that access through making legal assistance more accessible.
John K. (“Jack”) Shelton serves as outside general counsel for domestic and international businesses in the space industry. Jack’s background places a particular emphasis on corporate governance, international business transactions, export controls, and foreign investments.
Jack focuses much of his time on building out processes to make the firm’s work more efficient, with the goal of delivering services to clients more quickly and at a lower cost. Recent efforts include developing:
Jack is admitted to practice law in the courts of D.C., Tennessee, Louisiana, and the U.S. Court of International Trade (currently on voluntary inactive status in Louisiana).
Jack received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee (cum laude) and his LL.M. in Admiralty Law from Tulane University (cum laude). He began his legal practice working in Germany, representing an ocean carrier, after which he moved to New Orleans to represent international businesses in the Gulf of Mexico. He has since lived and worked in Tennessee, D.C., New Mexico, and elsewhere.
Jack is married to the far more interesting songwriter and musician, Grace Askew.
Jack focuses his practice in the following areas (with the following percentages showing approximate time spent per area for current clients)
