Scott A. Powell

Scott came to Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton LLP in 1986 after establishing a reputation as a trial lawyer with another firm. Since then, his diverse practice has taken him throughout the United States. Among the types of cases he has handled include litigation under the False Claims Act for qui tam plaintiffs, class action litigation involving complex legal issues, and commercial litigation.

Scott graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Cumberland School of Law and began to build his reputation as a formidable courtroom opponent and someone who truly devotes much of his energy to his profession.

Scott is past president of both the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association and the International Society of Barristers. He served from 2001 to 2005 as commissioner of the Judicial Compensation Commission and is a trustee of the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society.

Scott graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Cumberland School of Law.

• Cumberland School of Law
• Samford University
• University of Alabama

Most recently, Scott was appointed co-lead plaintiff counsel in the In re Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation multi-district litigation (MDL 2591) by Judge John Lungstrum of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Scott and his three co-leads were the only lawyers authorized to control, prosecute, and settle the thousands of federal multi-district lawsuits filed against Syngenta. The class action lawsuits against Syngenta resulted in a verdict of nearly $218 million for the Kansas Corn Farmer Class.

He has also served as lead counsel in the historic case of Schafer v. Bayer Cropscience. Rice farmers throughout the country suffered devastating market losses as a result of the contamination of the United States’ rice supply by genetically modified organisms produced by Bayer Cropscience. The Schafer trial took place in Lonoke County, Arkansas for 11 rice-farming families. The jury returned a verdict in their favor for more than $48 million. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the punitive damages in that case and the trial court declared the punitive damage cap unconstitutional and the Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the judgment in its entirety. In addition to the Schafer representation, Scott served as lead counsel for the firm in representing more than 3,000 rice farmers throughout the rice belt and was one of the lead counsel negotiating an eventual settlement with Bayer Cropscience for those clients in the amount of $750,000,000.

In 2013, Scott was appointed to the plaintiff steering committee in re: Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2391) by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller who is presiding over the national multi-district litigation pending in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. His position on the PSC involves working alongside other lead counsel to develop discovery and trial procedure, review thousands of key documents, and pursue the best possible outcome for plaintiffs nationwide who have suffered injuries related to their defective Biomet M2A Metal-on-Metal hip implants.

Scott served as co-lead counsel in the oil royalty litigation in eastern Texas. At the time of its resolution, it was the highest recovery on behalf of the United States in the history of the False Claims Act.

• Alabama (1978)
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
• United States Court of Appeals 11th Circuit

• Alabama Association for Justice
• Alabama Law Institute
• Alabama State Bar
• Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, 2005 – 06, President
• American Association for Justice
• American Bar Foundation
• American College of Trial Lawyers
• American Judicature Society
• Birmingham Bar Association
• Eleventh Circuit Historical Society, Trustee
• Fellow Alabama Bar Foundation
• International Society of Barristers (2006 – 2007), President
• International Society of Barristers (1999 – 2008), Board of Governors
• Judicial Compensation Commission (2001 – 2005)

• 2009 “Lawyer of the Year” by Taxpayers Against Fraud
• 2013 “Alabama Litigator of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation
• Mid-South Super Lawyers® listing (2008 – 2018, 2020)
• The Best Lawyers in America
• 2019 “Top Flight Attorney by B-Metro Magazine
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyer (2019 – 2020)
• “Best Lawyer” by Best Lawyers in America® (2005 – 2020)
• “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America® (2013, 2020)
• “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” by The National Trial Lawyers
• AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell