Judge Steelman is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law. He was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1989. After practicing in civil litigation and then serving as an Assistant District Attorney he was, in 2006, elected to serve as Criminal Court Judge, Division I, in Hamilton County, Tennessee. His service to the legal community includes having served as president of the Chattanooga Bar Association and on the Tennessee Indigent Representation Task Force. He is a Fellow of the Tennessee and Chattanooga Bar Foundations and is a member of the Brock-Cooper American Inn of Court.