Biography
Area of Focus
Anna Kegley-Shelton is a shareholder, attorney, and member of King Law’s Legal Operations team, where she leads firm-wide initiatives focused on organizational performance, attorney leadership, operational consistency, and sustainable growth.
A primary focus of Anna’s work in Legal Operations is strengthening the firm from within by improving leadership, accountability, efficiency, and the effective use of the firm’s people and resources. She works across Practice Area Groups and offices to identify successful practices, strengthen leadership structures, and develop systems that can be implemented consistently in a manner that best serves our clients as King Law grows.
Anna works closely with Practice Area Group leaders on performance, staffing, succession planning, attorney development, and long-term strategy. Having led Practice Area Groups in distinct areas of law, she brings a practical understanding of the challenges facing attorneys and legal teams and helps ensure that firm-wide strategies translate effectively into day-to-day legal practice.
Although her primary role has expanded to firm-wide Legal Operations, Anna remains actively connected to clients and legal matters. She maintains an active elder law caseload and regularly participates in client consultations and case strategy meetings with attorneys and legal teams. Drawing on her experience across multiple areas of law, Anna helps evaluate complex issues, consider potential approaches, and develop strategies responsive to each client’s individual circumstances.
Staying connected to clients and active matters is an important part of Anna’s approach to Legal Operations. It provides firsthand insight into how firm policies, staffing decisions, communication practices, and operational systems affect both the attorneys delivering legal services and the clients receiving them. As King Law continues to grow, Anna’s work is increasingly focused on building an organization that can scale while preserving the leadership, accountability, quality, and personal service clients expect and deserve.
Professional Background
Anna brings a broad perspective to Legal Operations from a career spanning the practice, business, and leadership of law. Before transitioning her primary focus to Legal Operations, she served as Chair of King Law’s Legacy Law Practice Area Group and was a founding leader of the firm’s Family Law Practice Area Group. She currently serves on King Law’s Board of Directors and remains an attorney within the Legacy Law Practice Area Group.
Before joining King Law, Anna’s experience also included operating her own law practice and work in a public defender’s office. Her practice of the law has included a wide range of legal issues, like estate and elder law, asset protection, family law, criminal defense, civil matters, and business law.
This combination of practicing law, managing a law practice, leading attorneys, developing Practice Area Groups, and serving in firm governance provides Anna with a broad understanding of both the practice and business of law. She now brings that experience to her work developing stronger leaders, legal teams, and operating systems across King Law.
Anna earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Charlotte School of Law. Her background in psychology complements her work with clients, attorneys, and organizational leaders, particularly in communication, leadership, and understanding how people navigate complex decisions and change.
Anna is also a Certified Family Financial Mediator through the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission.
Community and Personal Life
A resident of Rutherford County, Anna is deeply connected to the community she serves. She currently serves on the board of a local nonprofit organization and has dedicated significant time throughout her career to community and public service.
Anna previously served for many years on Rutherford County’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Council and has worked as a contract attorney for the Department of Social Services, advocating for the safety and well-being of children and families.
Anna lives in Rutherfordton with her husband and three children and enjoys raising her family in the same community where she grew up. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, gardening, and painting.