A native Texan, Jeff was born in San Antonio, Texas. His forebears settled in Texas generations ago, and his great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Jose Antonio Navarro, was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, a drafter of the Texas Constitution, one of the first elected to the Texas Congress and later its Senate, and the namesake for Navarro County in East Texas. Jeff's talent at advocacy revealed itself early on as he was the 1979 Texas State Debate Champion while a junior at Jesuit College Prep in Dallas. He attended Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the London School of Economics, graduating from the former in 1984. He obtained his law degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. Before putting his name on the door at LTPC, Jeff practiced with New York's Shearman & Sterling (in their Los Angeles office) and Baker Botts, LLP (in their Dallas office).