Timothy A. Scott

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