W. Scott "Scott" O'Connell
Recognized since 2010
Boston, Massachusetts
Appellate Practice
Bet-the-Company Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Litigation - Banking and Finance
Litigation - Health Care
Litigation - Municipal
Litigation - Securities
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
W. Scott O'Connell is a trial attorney and litigation strategist in Holland & Knight's Boston and New York City offices. Mr. O'Connell focuses his practice on complex commercial disputes involving significant financial and reputational exposure. He has considerable experience leading class action and aggregate litigation as well as parallel government enforcement and regulatory proceedings, most notably involving health service, financial service, energy, technology, telecommunications or manufacturing companies.
Mr. O'Connell has been lead counsel on more than 60 trials, arbitrations, evidentiary injunction proceedings and related appeals in federal and state courts around the country. He provides clients with customized and value-driven strategies for resolving cases on their terms.
In his class action, mass torts and aggregate litigation practice, Mr. O'Connell works closely with businesses to find and implement solutions that limit accruing exposure while also defending the case. He also has considerable experience counseling companies through crisis intervention, internal investigations and parallel proceedings.
In addition, Mr. O'Connell counsels health service providers with regard to reimbursements owed from Medicaid, Medicare and third-party payers. This work involves federal and state litigation as well as Administrative Procedures Act (APA) appeals. In addition, he represents individuals, business entities and political organizations in the defense of constitutionally protected rights and liberties.
Mr. O'Connell's experience includes representing academic medical providers, public universities and private for-profit education institutions in governance, internal investigations and commercial litigation. He has considerable experience defending class actions seeking discharge of private student loans connected to failed for-profit education institutions such as commercial flight schools and beauty academies. Mr. O'Connell is a term trustee of his alma mater, St. Lawrence University. In this role, he has served on the Executive Committee, Presidential Appraisal Committee, Audit Committee and Academic Affairs Committee. Mr. O'Connell is often called upon to assist with issues involving shared governance, board governance and institutional risk avoidance and management.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. O'Connell was chair of the litigation department for a global law firm, based in its Boston and Manchester, New Hampshire, offices.
Mr. O'Connell also maintains an active docket of pro bono cases specifically related to the prevention of domestic violence and providing needed access to justice.
- Direct Phone Number: 617-523-2700
- Phone Number: 617-523-2700
- Lawyer Page: https://www.hklaw.com/en/professionals/o/oconnell-w-scott
- 10 St. James Avenue, 11th Floor
Boston, MA 02116
- Cornell University, graduated 1991
- St. Lawrence University, graduated 1987
- New Hampshire, New Hampshire Bar Association
- Massachusetts, Massachusetts Bar Association
- New York, New York State Bar Association
- Maine, Maine State Bar Association
- Vermont, Vermont Bar Association
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
609 The Best Lawyers in America® awards
192 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America awards
- Litigation - Health Care, Boston (2023)
- Appellate Practice, Boston (2022)
- Appellate Practice, Manchester (2021)
- Bet-the-Company Litigation, Manchester (2020)
- Appellate Practice, Boston (2019)
- Litigation - Health Care, Manchester (2018)
- Litigation - Securities, Boston (2016)
- Litigation - Banking and Finance, Boston (2014)
- Litigation - Securities, Boston (2013)
- Appellate Practice
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Litigation - Banking and Finance
- Litigation - Health Care
- Litigation - Municipal
- Litigation - Securities
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Class Actions
- Closely-Held Businesses
- COVID-19
- Dispute Resolution
- Finance
- Shareholder Disputes
- Manchester Union Leader Forty Under 40
- Arbitration
- Banking and Finance Law
- Consumer Protection Law
- Corporate Governance Law
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
- Financial Services Regulation Law
- Mass Tort Litigation
- Product Liability Litigation
- Securities / Capital Markets Law
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