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Scott K. Attaway

Of Counsel
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  • fx: 202.326.7999
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Scott K. Attaway represents plaintiffs and defendants in a broad array of complex matters in the United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeal, trial courts, and regulatory agencies. His representations have encompassed subjects including mortgage-backed securities, securities, pharmaceuticals, federal preemption, federal court jurisdiction and complex procedure, telecommunications, and disputes between sovereign states over water rights and boundaries.

He also formed and runs a U.S. non-profit that provides support including housing, education, and medical care for homeless children in India. www.ramanas.org.

Noteworthy Representations

Currently co-leading extensive trial litigation in four separate cases brought by the National Credit Union Administration Board as plaintiff against mortgage-backed securities trustees Deutsche Bank, HSBC, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. 

Successfully represented the National Credit Union Administration Board in multiple cases as plaintiff against major Wall Street banks serving as mortgage-backed securities underwriters, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, RBS, and UBS, resulting in an aggregate recovery of more than $5 billion for the agency and its insurance funds that ensure the health of the federal credit union system.

Successfully represented CUNA Mutual Group in cases against eight major Wall Street banks serving as mortgage-backed securities underwriters. Obtained complete reversal on appeal of the trial court’s dismissal at summary judgment in CUNA Mutual v. RBS Securities, 799 F. 3d 729 (7th Cir. 2015). Subsequently, defendants in all other pending suits agreed to settlements.

Kaiser Health v. Pfizer, 721 F.3d 21 (1st Cir. 2013). Successfully represented Kaiser on appeal in defending $150 million jury verdict for off-label drug marketing fraud by Pfizer. 

Farina v. Nokia, No. 10-1064 (U.S.). Successfully represented defendant mobile phone providers in persuading the Supreme Court to deny review of a court of appeals decision finding that state-law claims alleging the Federal Communications Commission had adopted inadequate standards concerning permissible amounts of radiation from mobile phones were preempted by federal law. 

Indian Brands Farms v. Novartis Crop Protection, 617 F.3d 207 (3d Cir. 2009). Successfully represented blueberry farmers seeking a remedy for severe crop damage caused by a pesticide.

Fisher v. City of San Jose, California, 558 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc). Successfully represented the City of San Jose and its police department on Fourth Amendment issues concerning a twelve-hour armed standoff, obtaining a 6-5 reversal of the initial appellate decision. 

Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009). Successfully represented a musician who tragically lost her arm due to an improperly administered migraine drug, obtaining a 5-4 decision over the objection of the United States and numerous industry participants. The Court held that FDA approval of a manufacturer’s label did not preempt a jury verdict concluding that the label provided inadequate warnings of the known risk of the drug that severely harmed our client. 

New Jersey v. Delaware, 552 U.S. 597 (2008). Successfully represented the State of Delaware in a case brought under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction by New Jersey, which sought to build a liquefied natural gas unloading dock extending from the New Jersey shore onto submerged lands belonging to Delaware. The case raised fascinating and challenging historical questions dating back to the original grant of territory in 1682 by the Duke of York to William Penn. The Court agreed with Delaware that a 1905 interstate compact between the States required Delaware’s approval before any such project could be built. 

South Carolina v. North Carolina, No. 138, Original (U.S. filed 2007). Successfully represented the State of South Carolina in obtaining adequate flows from an interstate river originating in North Carolina through eventual settlement following several years of litigation and development of expert analyses by hydrologists and economists.  

Kircher v. Putnam Funds Trust, 547 U.S. 633 (2006). Successfully represented a group of plaintiff investors opposing removal to federal court of cases filed in state court, in a case concerning important principles of removal jurisdiction. 

Lincoln Property v. Roche, 546 U.S. 81 (2005). Successfully represented a defendant real property owner in removing a case filed in state court to federal court, in a case concerning important principles of removal jurisdiction. 

Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, 544 U.S. 431 (2005). Successfully represented Texas farmers seeking a remedy for severe crop damage caused by inadequate pesticide label warnings. In a watershed decision that limited the instances in which federal law may be deemed to preempt state laws, the Supreme Court effectively reversed or abrogated more than fifty adverse lower court decisions in similar cases, over the objection of the United States and numerous industry participants that participated before the Court as amici curiae (or interested parties).

Publications

The Case for Constitutional Discrimination in Taxation of Out-of-State Municipal Bonds, 76 Boston University Law Review 737 (1996).  

In Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis, 553 U.S. 328 (2008), the Supreme Court reached the result advocated for in this article, published while Mr. Attaway was in law school. The Court held that a state constitutionally may tax investor income from municipal bonds issued by other states while declining to tax investor income from its own municipal bonds. The article was cited in the amicus brief filed by forty-nine states, and the Attorney General for the lead state wrote Mr. Attaway that it had helped substantially in developing the constitutional legal theories on which the states prevailed in the Supreme Court.

Education

Boston University School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, 1997

  • Semester of international and comparative law at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford 1997
  • Editor, Boston University Law Review, 1996-1997

Berklee College of Music, B.M., magna cum laude, 1993

Clerkship

Law Clerk, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, 1998-1999

Law Clerk, Judge Catherine C. Blake, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland, 1997-1998


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