Scott Nelson

Attorney, Public Citizen Litigation Group

Scott L. Nelson is an attorney at the Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington, D.C., where he has practiced since August 2001. He received his undergraduate education at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude in 1981 and earning election to Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to attend Harvard Law School, where he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review in 1983 and graduated magna cum laude. Immediately upon graduating from law school, Scott served as a law clerk to the Honorable Byron R. White, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, from 1984 to 1986. From 1986 until its dissolution at the end of 2000, Scott was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin.

Both in private practice and at Public Citizen, Scott’s law practice has centered on civil litigation and on civil and criminal appellate practice, including practice before the United States Supreme Court. His clients have included a former President of the United States, a sitting United States District Judge, the American Bar Association, and the American Historical Association. At Public Citizen, his practice covers a range of subjects, including mandatory arbitration and other access to courts issues, the First Amendment, the Freedom of Information Act, regulation of hazardous substances in the workplace, and class actions. He has argued four cases before the U.S. Supreme Court: Viking River Cruises v. Moriana (concerning California’s Private Attorneys General Act), Mims v. Arrow Financial Services (concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act), CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood (concerning the Credit Repair Organizations Act), and Barnes v. Gorman (concerning punitive damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act).