Scott Burnett Smith

Scott Burnett Smith


Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Recognized since 2007

Huntsville, Alabama

Practice Areas

Appellate Practice

Bet-the-Company Litigation

Commercial Litigation

Litigation - ERISA

Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants

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Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2024 - Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2022 - Appellate Practice
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Scott Burnett Smith is a partner in the firm’s Huntsville office. His practice covers class actions, complex litigation, and appeals. Scott has been involved in dozens of nationwide class actions in state and federal courts, and he has handled over 30 class action appeals. He is also regularly involved as the appellate lawyer embedded with a trial team in complex civil litigation. In that role, he has succeeded in having several multi-million dollar injury verdicts (including punitive damages) remitted by the trial court or reversed and rendered by the appellate court.

The founder of the firm's Appellate Litigation Group, Scott has been involved in 15 cases (2 on the merits) before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has also been involved in over 140 appeals to the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, D.C., and Federal Circuits, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, and the Arkansas Supreme Court. Scott has presented oral argument 21 times before appellate courts, including the Alabama Supreme Court and several federal courts of appeals.

Scott is active in DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar. He currently serves as a National Director on DRI’s Board of Directors. He is the past-Chair of DRI’s Amicus Committee and past-Chair of DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee. He also served as Chair of DRI’s national Class Action seminar, held July 21-22, 2011, in Washington, D.C. He writes and speaks regularly on class actions and appellate practice.

Contact & Links
Location
  • 200 Clinton Avenue West, Suite 900
    Huntsville, AL 35801-4900
Education
  • Auburn University, B.A., graduated 1991
  • Vanderbilt University, JD, graduated 1997
Bar Admissions
  • Alabama, Alabama State Bar Association
Affiliations
  • Alabama State Bar Association - Member
  • American Bar Association - Member
  • Defense Research Institute - Member
  • Eleventh Circuit Historical Society - Member
  • Federal Bar Association - Member
  • Fifth Circuit Bar Association - Member
Federal Clerkships
  • United States Court of Appeals

Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2024 - Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year Badge - 2022 - Appellate Practice
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
  • Appellate Practice, Huntsville (2024)
  • Appellate Practice, Huntsville (2022)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 for work in:
  • Appellate Practice
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Litigation - ERISA
  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Awards:
  • Listed in Benchmark Litigation, "Appellate Star," Alabama, 2012-2013
  • Listed in Alabama Super Lawyers, Appellate, 2011-2013
Additional Areas of Practice:
  • Arbitration
  • Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

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Funds and Fiduciaries


by Scott Burnett Smith

Early in 2022, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in a key case dealing with pension funds’ obligations to their participants. The decision established two guardrails that govern how fund managers do their job.

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