Managing Partner
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
Scott is the Managing Partner of Sease & Wadding whose trial and appellate practice focuses on helping people and businesses win inside and outside the courtroom. Scott’s cases include business disputes, constitutional litigation, intellectual property, professional liability, and personal injury.
Scott is results driven and has significant experience wrestling with complex and novel trial and appellate issues. He has an inside perspective of the appellate process, which has proven critical to developing successful legal strategies in state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Scott has successfully represented people and companies in cases of all sizes and degrees of complexity, including successfully trying several jury and bench trials to verdict, obtaining an outright dismissal for a homeless man against a predatory lender, developing successful legal strategies to exclude key expert witness testimony in a nine-figure intellectual property case, crafting and implementing winning trial strategies for damages in high-stakes and bet-the-company intellectual property and business tort cases.
Focus Areas
Trial Law
Appeals
Personal Injury
Business & Corporate Issues
Constitutional Law
Intellectual Property
Admissions
Iowa
Missouri (inactive)
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Iowa
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Illinois
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Eight Circuit Court of Appeals
Professional Associations
Iowa Supreme Court Appellate Rules Committee (2020 – Present)
Iowa State Bar Association Litigation Legislative Committee (2020 – Present)
Board Member – American Constitution Society (Iowa Chapter) (2019 – Present)
Board Member, American Red Cross—Eastern Iowa Area (2013 –2014)
Chair, Cedar Rapids NAACP Legal Redress Committee (2013 –2014)
Volunteer Attorney, Iowa Legal Aid (2012 –2014)
Iowa Bar Association
American Bar Association
Clerk Experience
Law Clerk, Hon. Brent Appel, Justice, Iowa Supreme Court (2010-2012)
Thought Leadership
Co-Author, "Legislating Civil Liability of Automated Vehicles," The Iowa Lawyer (March 2021)
Presentation, "The Evolution of State Constitutional Law in Iowa," Blackstone Inns of Court (February 2019)
A Primer on Reasonable Royalty Damages, The Iowa Lawyer (May 2018)
Protecting Trade Secrets? Beefy ‘Defend Trade Secrets Act’ to the Rescue, IpQ: Enhancing Your IP IQ (June 2016)
Proportionality in Perspective: Old Whine in New Bottles?, IpQ: Enhancing Your IP IQ (Jan. 25, 2016)
Cultivating a Common Bond: The Right to Adequate Education in South Africa and the United States, Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog (September 11, 2013)
Tonn-Ochoa Analysis Recognizes Iowa Supreme Court’s Duty to Tailor the Iowa Constitution to the Unique Traditions and Values of Iowans, The Iowa Lawyer (June 2013)
What the Iowa Supreme Court Amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure Mean, The Iowa Lawyer (April 2013)
Co-Author, Mechanics’ Liens Go Viral: Lessons from Iowa to Utah, Division 7 of the ABA Forum on Construction (January 2013).
Co-Author, Criminal Law Newsletter, Drake University Law School (2010).
Co-Editor, 4 Iowa Practice Series, Criminal Law (West 2010).
Education
J.D, Drake University, 2010 (Order of the Coif, Highest Honors, AAJ Mock Trial Team, Certificate in Litigation and Dispute Resolution)
B.A., University of Northern Iowa (Purple and Old Gold Award)
Notable Cases
Herbst v. Sioux County et al. (successful resolution in a wrongful death action arising from alleged unconstitutional and negligent conduct of county officials)
Schiebout v. Sioux County et al. (successful resolution in a wrongful death action arising from alleged unconstitutional and negligent conduct of county officials)
John Doe v. Jasper County (successful resolution for injuries arising from unconstitutional jail conditions)