Mr. Shirley graduated from the University of Evansville (BME '83), Indiana University at Bloomington (MM '85), and received his law degree from the Indiana University at Indianapolis (JD '91), summa cum laude. While at Indiana University, Mr. Shirley was a Cale J. Holder Fellow (1991), Alumni Scholar (1990), Harold R. Woodward Fellow, Lloyd Balfour International Scholar (1989), President of Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity (1989-91), Associate Editor of the Indiana Law Review, and Chief Justice of the Indiana University Court of Appeals. After law school, Mr. Shirley clerked for the Honorable James E. Noland of the United States District Court (1991-92), the Honorable Daniel A. Manion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1992-93), and was a partner at Cremer, Miller & Burroughs, 1993-2000. He is Chairman of the Board of the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society (member 1993-present), a Director of the Indianapolis Legal Aid Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Extended Hand Prison Ministries, and a former director of the Sinfonia Foundation.

Mr. Shirley has been an author and presenter for numerous ICLEF seminars and Res Gestae articles on estate, trust and tax litigation. He is a member of the Seventh Circuit, Indiana State and Indianapolis Bar Associations, the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, the Estate Planning Council of Indianapolis, the Hoosier Hills Estate Planning Council, and admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, Seventh Circuit, and all federal and state courts in Indiana. Martindale Hubbell rated him "AV" after four years in private practice, one of only a handful in the United States to accomplish this, and he is named in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Mr. Shirley travels throughout the United States, representing clients in will contests, trust contests, and complex business litigation. His clients include many of the foremost attorneys, judges, law professors, and law firms throughout Indiana, and he has testified as an expert witness on estate, trust, income tax, estate and gift tax, business law, and attorney fee disputes.