• 1350 Columbia Street, Suite 600, San Diego, California 92101

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Timothy A. Scott

Timothy A. Scott

Timothy A. Scott

Founder, Trial Attorney
Jury Trials, Civil Rights, Federal Criminal Defense, White-Collar Criminal Defense, Serious Criminal Defense in State Courts, Catastrophic Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
1350 Columbia Street, Suite 600, San Diego, California 92101

TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR

TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR
McKenzie Scott is honored to announce that the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association named Tim Scott the 2016 Trial Lawyer of the Year.

NINTH CIRCUIT CRIMINAL HANDBOOK


Along with the Honorable Larry A. Burns, Tim Scott is the author of the Ninth Circuit Criminal Handbook, which is updated annually.

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San Diego Super Lawyer

sdcd bar association




Top 20 Wrongful Death Verdicts in the United States in 2022




Biography

Tim Scott graduated from Stanford Law School in 2000, and received his undergraduate degree from Whitworth College in 1997 summa cum laude. He began his career as a trial attorney with Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. before starting what became McKenzie & Scott in 2021. Consistently ranked by peers as a “San Diego Super Lawyer,” and “Southern California Super Lawyer” for both trial-court and appellate categories, Tim is the rare advocate who combines the skills of an accomplished trial lawyer, appellate attorney, and legal scholar.

Mr. Scott maintains a vigorous trial practice, with approximately 60 civil and criminal jury trials to his credit. Some recent victories include: United States v. An Individual, 17cr444 (alleged theft of trade secrets by scientist; not guilty of all 20 counts in the indictment); People v. An Individual, Case No. SWF 1700598 (assault with firearm, not guilty all felony charges); United States v. An Individual, 14cr192-CJC (solicitation to murder federal judge, hung jury); United States v. an Individual, 08cr1094-WDK (tried in 2015) (acquittal on all charges in federal health-care fraud prosecution); United States v. an Individual, 13cr0885 (acquittal on 16 of 19 charges in federal fraud case, remainder dismissed after successful appeal); People v. an Individual, Case No. 3WA02116 (hung jury and dismissal on theft charges); United States v. an Individual, 12cr0918-BEN (securities-fraud, acquitted on six counts, hung jury on remaining counts); California v. an Individual, Case No. SCS242736 (obtained dismissal of murder charges following three-day preliminary hearing); United States v. an Individual, Case No. 11 CR 2611 (assault on a federal officer case, obtained dismissal during second day of jury trial); United States v. an Individual, (Navy Court-martial alleging double rape; all charges dismissed after Article 32 preliminary hearing); California v.an Individual, Case No. SCS242736 (acquittals on all counts in case alleging aggravated assault with great bodily injury); United States v. an Individual, Case No. 09 CR 3330 (obtained jury trial acquittal in case alleging alien-smuggling with alleged confession); United States v. an Individual, Case No 05 CR 0069 (obtained jury trial acquittals of first-degree murder and gang conspiracy charges).

Mr. Scott’s success at the Ninth Circuit has been as broad and frequent as his trial court victories, and include: United States v. Spanier, 17-50128 (2018) (securities-fraud conviction reversed for jury-instruction error); United States v. Millan, 15-50445 (2018) (wire-fraud conviction reversed for erroneous admission of expert / summary testimony); United States v. Garcia, 14-50567(government conceded error and dismissed appeal after opening brief filed); United States v. Spanier 14-50306 (securities-fraud conviction dismissed for Speedy Trial violation, remanded); United States v. Johnson, 10-50439 (9th Cir. 2012) (reversing federal bank-robbery conviction and twenty-seven-year sentence); United States v. Cardenas, 09-50472 (9th Cir. 2011) (reversing federal identity theft conviction); United States v. Caruto, 532 F.3d 822 (9th Cir. 2008) (reversing importation conviction and 14-year sentence for Doyle error in case of first impression); United States v. Rangel-Rodriguez, Case No.06-50519 (9th Cir.2008) (reversing federal alien-smuggling conspiracy conviction); United States v. Wells, Case No. 04-50296 (9th Cir. 2006) (reversing RICO/attempted murder conviction and 30-year sentence); United States v. Lombera-Valdovinos, 429 F.3d 927 (9th Cir. 2005) (reversing conviction in re-entry case); United States v. Bautista, 362 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2004) (reversing counterfeiting conviction for Fourth-Amendment violation); United States v. Juvenile (Christian O.), Case No. 03-50488 (9th Cir. 2004) (reversing importation case and obtaining acquittal on appeal).

Mr. Scott’s mastery of federal criminal law may also be assessed by his authorship of, in collaboration with a sitting federal district judge, The Ninth Circuit Criminal Handbook (Lexis-Nexis/Matthew Bender). This restatement of criminal law is relied upon by practitioners and judges alike throughout the Ninth Circuit, and includes a Forward from the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Scott also contributed the Fourth-Amendment chapter to the 2010 edition of the nationally renowned treatise, Defending a Federal Criminal Case, published by Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc.

Bar Admissions:

  • Washington
  • California
  • Missouri

Court Admissions:

  • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Central District of California
  • United States District Court for the Central District of North Dakota
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Education

  • 1993 - 1997
    B.A., Whitworth College
  • 2000
    J.D., Stanford Law School

Experience:

McKenzie Scott is honored to announce that the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association named Tim Scott the 2016 Trial Lawyer of the Year.


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