Shon R. Hopwood is a former Nebraska bank robber who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for five robberies. While in prison, he started spending time in the law library, and became an accomplished Supreme Court practitioner by the time he left in 2008.

His first US Supreme Court petition for certiorari was in the case of Fellers v. United States

Fellers v. United States

Fellers v. United States, 540 U.S. 519 , is a United States Supreme Court case regarding the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel.-Facts:...

, in which he worked with Seth Waxman, a former U.S. Solicitor General, in preparing the case. Waxman stated that the petition for writ of certiorari was one of the best he'd ever seen. Hopwood has prepared several more since, including another petition that was granted in 2005.

He also won honorable mention in the PEN American Center

PEN American Center

PEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...

 2008 Prison Writing contest.

He now works for Cockle Law Brief Printing Company, a printer of Supreme Court briefs, in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

, as both a consultant and web blogger. He continues helping prepare Supreme Court and appellate briefs through his company, Precedential Paralegal L.L.C. and with Hightower Law. He has been married to Ann Marie Hopwood since August, 2009, and has one son.

Hopwood is currently working on a memoir with co-author Dennis Burke, and studies law at the University of Washington in Seattle.