Shaun Capps has built a life of faith, family, and advocacy
In a profession often portrayed by billboards and TV ads, attorney Shaun Capps brings something different to the table—a blend of toughness and compassion, legal rigor and pastoral instinct, national-level expertise and small-town loyalty.
Capp’s life seems to be unfolding in two dimensions: one rooted in the neighborhoods of Pelham, Alabaster, and Birmingham, the other taking him onto Broadway stages, national conference podiums, and digital classrooms across the country.
The story of how he got here is neither linear nor predictable, but it is very interesting.
A Calling That Found Him
Long before he stood in a courtroom, Capps stood behind a pulpit. As a young man serving full-time on a church staff, he imagined he might spend his life in ministry. “There’s no 
such thing as part-time ministry,” he says. “You either do it or you don’t.”
But something shifted—quietly, then unmistakably. “One day, it was just like a slap in the face: you’re going to be in the marketplace,” he recalls. He wasn’t a great student, didn’t particularly enjoy school, and certainly wasn’t looking for a degree path that required years of exams and papers. Yet the more he prayed, the clearer the path became.
Capps had always admired his stepfather, a hospital administrator who mixed competence with compassion and earned both respect and a comfortable living. That planted the early seed of earning an advanced degree. Later, curiosity about sports agency work nudged him toward law school.
Still, he battled the quiet voice of imposter syndrome: People like me don’t go to law school. But people around him saw something else. They encouraged him, spoke life into him, nudged him forward. He began researching programs and eventually landed on the Birmingham School of Law, attending night classes while working full-time. “I didn’t know a single person in Birmingham,” he says. “I just packed up and moved from Mississippi.” He worked by day, studied by night, and paid tuition as he went—broke, determined, and unwilling to quit.
Finding Purpose in Personal Injury Work
Capps’s first legal job was in the lien unit of UAB’s legal department, spending his days on the phone with attorneys across the state. That’s how he met his future colleague and friend, Anthony Shunnarah. Their rapport grew quickly—two young attorneys-in-training learning to bypass red tape by calling each other directly.
By his final year of law school, Capps had an offer: come work with Shunnarah Injury Lawyers, one of the largest plaintiff firms in the country. He loved it immediately. “Personal injury plays to all my strengths,” he explains. “Negotiation, communication, advocating for people who are hurting… it all clicked.”
Capp’s version of personal injury work diverges sharply from stereotypes. He refuses frivolous cases. He refuses to take money from people who are already suffering. He refuses to compromise his sense of right and wrong. “I help a lot of people where I don’t make a dollar,” he says, shrugging. “What kind of person would I be to take half of someone’s recovery when they’ve already lost everything?”
He tells the story of four men who came to him after being defrauded out of large investments. He shook their hands, promised to fight, and ultimately recovered nearly $300,000. “Did I do it for free? Yes. Did I do it for nothing? No,” he says. “My sphere of influence grew. When people like that need help, they call me. That’s not why I did it, but that’s how these things work. If you set out to make money, you burn out. If you set out to make meaning, you make money.”
The Rise of a Negotiation Expert
Of all the twists in Capp’s professional journey, one is his ascendancy as a national negotiation expert. It began with a workshop proposal to the Christian Legal Society’s national conference. He didn’t think they’d even read it. Instead, they selected it—and attendees loved it. Doors opened. Invitations followed.
He now teaches workshops across the country on ethical persuasion, a term he chose intentionally. “Is persuasion ethical? Is it moral? Can altering circumstances or outcomes be done in a righteous way?” he asks. “The answer is yes—if it’s rooted in truth and transparency.”
His skill and reputation led to a remarkable collaboration: co-authoring a chapter with Chris Voss, legendary FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split the Difference. That partnership snowballed into something even more surreal: Capps helped produce Voss’s sold out one-night Broadway show in New York. Filmed for potential release on major streaming platforms, it blended TED Talk storytelling with the drama of real hostage negotiations. Walking into the theater that night, Capps and his wife Olya passed Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. “You don’t get more Broadway than that,” he laughs.
Teacher by Calling, Lawyer by Trade
Capps now teaches Torts I, Torts II, and Negotiation for Trinity Law School in California—remotely, to students across the country. “It keeps me sharp,” he says. “Watching the light bulb go off with young law students—it’s invigorating.” His students learn from someone who practices what he teaches.
Faith at the Center
Faith is not an accessory to Capps’s life—it is his compass and his foundation. He’s now the president of the Christian Legal Society, Birmingham chapter, rebuilding it after COVID-era dormancy. His first event drew 58 attorneys and featured Justices and the Court of Civil Appeal discussing legal ethics.
He’s planning a large fundraising event featuring Rudy Ruettiger— the real-life inspiration behind the movie Rudy. Proceeds will fund free legal aid clinics and Wills for Heroes, offering estate documents to first responders and police officers at no cost.
A Family Story Worth Telling
If Capps’s professional life is big, his personal life is equally profound. He met his wife Olya—born in Ukraine, raised in Atlanta—while preaching at a Romanian youth camp. He wasn’t looking for love; he was studying for the bar, broke, exhausted, laser focused. But he saw her, talked with her, and realized she was “the real deal.” Four weeks later, he drove to Atlanta for their first date. Six months later, he proposed. Six months after that, they married.
They now have three children under the age of five and recently moved from Alabaster to Pelham—though they still own their first Alabaster home and love the community. Their oldest daughter attends Evangel Classical School, a place they cherish for its leadership and rigorous academics. Family is also central to the way Capps manages his schedule. “There was a time when I worked seven days a week,” he says. “And I loved it. But now I want to be the one teaching my daughter to ride her bike. No one else gets that moment.”
The Thread that Binds
Capps is currently writing a book on negotiation techniques drawn from scripture—a project he hopes will become a teaching tool for law schools nationwide. He’s also building a professional studio for his upcoming podcast, Good News & Gavel, blending law, faith, and real-world case breakdowns. He doesn’t see these projects as pathways to fame or wealth. “It’s about educating people,” Capps says. “Helping them understand the world around them. Making meaning.” And that, perhaps, is the thread that binds his story: a calling to help others—in a courtroom, a classroom, a podcast studio, or learning to ride a bike.