In addition to sharing a love of all things Marvel, Scott and his sons agree that a chocolate croissant from Mainwood Pastry is a good way to start a Saturday.

Scott's practice focuses on business and tax law.  He practices in the general business area representing closely-held businesses on a wide variety of issues including contract review and negotiation, mergers and acquisitions, all aspects of initial startup including entity selection and formation, and succession planning for management and ownership.  Scott also serves as tax advisor to businesses and individuals, with a focus on assisting clients in federal and state tax controversy matters.

Scott was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, then lived in Cincinnati for over ten years before attending law school in Cleveland, Ohio.  Immediately after law school, Scott obtained an advanced law degree in tax from the University of Florida.  Scott then worked with law firms in Florida and Minnesota before returning to Cincinnati.

Scott is committed to Cincinnati and happy to be home.  He focuses on his Christian faith, enjoys spending time with family and friends, and passionately follows the Cleveland Browns and The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Education

Wittenberg University, B.A., History

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, J.D., summa cum laude, 2010;

Levin College of Law, University of Florida, LL.M. (Taxation), 2011

Publications

Scott’s parents instilled in him the importance of three things: a Christian faith, family, and putting others first.  Never pushy, they shared their own interests with him and gave him space to discover his own.  They also encouraged him to follow his passions, believing that they would lead to satisfying work and meaningful personal pursuits.  Today Scott instills those same things in his three boys.

For as long as he can remember, Scott has loved music.  He recalls music playing regularly when he was young, and has particularly fond memories of weekend radio shows featuring 50s and 60s hits.  His family would get pizza or play games, the radio would play in the background, and he and his sister would sing along and wait for their favorites.  His parents seemed to enjoy that he loved the music they did, but they were also encouraging and supportive when he started exploring music on his own.

His first real musical love was Bruce Springsteen.  One of his most cherished memories is the time his parents bought tickets for the entire family to see Springsteen at Cleveland’s old Municipal Stadium. Even though Scott was only 12 and his sister just 10 – his parents drove the family all the way from hometown Dayton because they knew how much Scott wanted to see that concert.  They somehow wound up with four tickets on the field, two seats on the end of both the eighth and ninth rows in the center section, amidst a sea of over 90,000 people.

Scott focuses on vocals and lyrics, and is drawn to contemplative, introspective songs with themes of self-reflection, discovery, and the search for connection.  In addition to Springsteen, his other big loves are Pearl Jam and his musical hero, Mark Lanegan.  Scott met Lanegan after a show and told him how his music had helped in some tough times and that not a day goes by without listening to him, something that holds true today.

The Cleveland Browns are Scott’s other big passion.  His parents were always big fans, but Scott just wasn’t into football when he was young.  Once he became interested he naturally gravitated to the Browns.  Then something just clicked and he was hooked.  To Scott there is no offseason and checking Browns news is just a part of daily life all year round.  He tries to keep this fanatical love in check, and he’s getting better at maintaining perspective, but he admits that weeks are much better when the Browns win.

Scott also loves all things Marvel.  His favorite is the Avengers, so he has loved all the MCU films in recent years.  This hobby is extra special to Scott because he shares it with his boys.  They were too young to watch the early films, but he has loved introducing the older movies to them and waiting impatiently alongside them for new releases.  He is a huge fan of Captain America and Agent Coulson because they value integrity, honesty, courage, loyalty, and perseverance.  Those characters (especially as played so well by Chris Evans and Clark Gregg) bring these qualities to life and make it easy to emphasize those traits to his boys.

Law is a second career for Scott, after years in the health, wellness, and sports management field.  Part of that work involved fitness, and Scott loved working one-on-one with people and helping them to achieve their goals.  He always loved researching and writing and has a very analytical mind, so a legal career was a natural transition.  Scott thinks that “Graydon is a perfect fit for me because of the partnership focus the firm has with clients.” There is nothing more satisfying to Scott then working closely with and actively listening to his clients, identifying issues and laying out a roadmap for success, and guiding them through the process to achieve their goals.