RHEA HUDSON SHELDON is the managing attorney for the Jackson office of Abbott, Simses, & Kuchler. Her primary practice areas are General Civil Litigation and Toxic Tort Litigation.

Ms. Sheldon was born in Oxford, Mississippi, in 1975. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History in 1997. Prior to attending law school, she was a high school history teacher.

Ms. Sheldon received her law degree in 2002 from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. She was an active member of the Law School Student Body, serving her fellow classmates as Honor Council member, Honor Council Chairperson, and the Law School Student Body Election Commissioner. As a member of the Moot Court Board, she served as Judicial Relations Director, sat on the Executive Committee and was named the 2002 Most Valuable Member. She was also active in the Public Interest Law Clinic.

Prior to joining the Firm, she was a law clerk at the Mississippi Supreme Court for Presiding Justice Kay B. Cobb. Following her clerkship, Ms. Sheldon's practice focused on insurance defense and personal injury litigation.

Ms. Sheldon is in charge of the day-to-day case management of asbestos and benzene dockets for some of the Firm's major corporate clients in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. By focusing on early case assessment, Ms. Sheldon has successfully negotiated dismissals of thousands of claims prior to conducting extensive discovery and trial preparation.

Over the past few years, Ms. Sheldon’s practice has evolved to include a substantial commercial litigation practice in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Ms. Sheldon has participated in non-jury trials in state and federal courts.

Ms. Sheldon is admitted to practice in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. She is active member of the Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi Bar Associations and American Bar Association. She is also an active member of the Jackson Young Lawyers and Hinds County Bar Association where she serves as Co-Chairperson on the Women in the Profession Committee and Social Committee. Ms. Sheldon was nominated and admitted into the Charles Clark Inn of Court, a state chapter of a national legal organization designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the legal profession.

In 2007, Ms. Sheldon has been selected one of Mississippi’s Leading Fifty Business Women. Selections are made from a list of women who are nominated based upon professional and personal accomplishments and levels of influence within their firms or companies.

Ms. Sheldon currently resides in Jackson, Mississippi with her husband, Jay.