Scot oversees Shook’s pro bono program, chairs the firm’s pro bono committee and leads the public interest advocacy efforts in all offices. Scot has been practicing for 22 years, with 19 years’ experience leading successful, award-winning pro bono programs.
Under Scot’s leadership, firm professionals assist low-income individuals, underserved communities and nonprofit organizations with both interesting and important matters that span a wide range of substantive legal issues. He has a proven track record of increasing pro bono participation dramatically and is considered a leader in the law firm pro bono profession. In fact, as is noted in recent press, just one year after Scot’s arrival at Shook, the firm experienced a 34% increase in average hours per lawyer and a 65% increase in participation—levels that have been sustained ever since.
A testament to his success is the long list of honors and recognitions his pro bono programs have received from prominent legal aid groups, civil rights organizations, publications and bar associations around the country, including the American Bar Association’s 2020 Pro Bono Publico Award. His programs have been covered in both The American Lawyer and Law360, and they have been recognized with awards from The State Bar of California, The Legal Aid Society of New York, Public Counsel Law Center, Immigration Equality, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Lawyers Alliance for New York, The Veterans Consortium, Swords to Plowshares, Victim Rights Law Center, Western Center on Law & Poverty, Alliance for Children’s Rights, Inner City Law Center, and the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice.
Scot serves as the co-president of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel, an association of over 400 dedicated pro bono professionals at nearly 150 law firms around the world. He teaches a pro bono and law firm economics seminar at Georgetown Law School and taught a similar seminar at the University of Virginia School of Law. Additionally, Scot is frequently invited to speak about law firm pro bono legal services at conferences and other events around the country.
Representative Matters
Scot’s pro bono programs helped to obtain the following high profile litigation results:
Republican National Committee v. Gavin Newsom (RNC’s Challenge to California Mail-in Ballot Initiative)
City of San Jose v. Ross (The California 2020 Census Challenge)
J.L. v. Cissna (Class Action on Behalf of California Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Youth)
Asencio v. FEMA (Puerto Rican Hurricane Refugee Case)
Martese Johnson v. Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control
David v. Signal International, LLC (The Signal Human Trafficking Litigation)
Presentations and Publications
Co-Facilitator, Cultural Sensitivity in Pro Bono Representations, Los Angeles, 2019.
Facilitator, The Intersection of Health Care and Immigration: Tackling the “Public Charge” Rule Through Pro Bono Involvement, Equal Justice Conference, Louisville, 2019.
Co-Presenter, Pros & Cons of Corporate Pro Bono Partnering, Association of Pro Bono Counsel Academy, Atlanta, 2018.
Guest Lecturer, Law Firm Economics and the Public Interest, USC Gould School of Law, 2017.
Co-Author, Instilling a Commitment to Pro Bono, Journal of Legal Education, Association of American Law Schools, 2013.
Media Coverage
Top Priorities For Pro Bono Leaders In 2023, Law360, January 6, 2023.
Shook Lures Big Pro Bono Fish to Deepen the Firm’s National Efforts, The American Lawyer, August 9, 2021.
Big Law and The Ballot: The Pro Bono Fight for Mail-In Voting, Law360, August 23, 2020.
Working for Free: Lawyers Incorporating Pro Bono Into Their Lives Talk About Its Rewards, Challenges, ABA Journal, February 1, 2013.
Podcasts and Multimedia
ESG Impact Litigation, E2–ESG and Your Firm’s Pro Bono Path, November 2, 2022.