Profile
Scott Mendeloff combines an 11-year tenure as a former federal prosecutor with 25 years of experience in private practice. He focuses his practice on commercial trials and white-collar criminal litigation. Scott has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA in the area of white-collar crime and government investigations and by The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of commercial and white collar litigation. Scott has tried to conclusion more than 50 cases in a wide array of areas in both the civil and criminal arenas in federal and state courts around the country.
Scott's international client base extends from publicly traded corporations in the United States and the European Union to individuals. Scott's recent trial victories in federal and state courts have included cases involving contract breaches, breach of fiduciary duty, piercing domestic and offshore trusts and corporate veils, trade secrets, various bankruptcy adversary proceedings, and all manner of fraud. He has also argued numerous cases before federal courts of appeals.
Beyond trial work, Scott has delivered results in the commercial and white collar areas alike. In addition to the foregoing areas, his commercial litigation experience has involved the prosecution and defense of actions in areas including D&O actions, accountant's liability, SEC investigations, antitrust violations, civil RICO, state and federal banking regulation, securities, and a variety of federal and state regulatory cases. Scott's white collar practice has spanned all manner of fraud cases, including health care, bank, tax and bankruptcy fraud; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; federal, state and local regulatory matters, including nuclear regulatory and environmental law; numerous internal investigations, frequently centering on the financial industry; and the creation and policing of corporate compliance programs.
From 1986-1997, Scott served in the U.S. Department of Justice, during which time he tried more than 40 cases to federal juries and supervised hundreds of investigations. In 1996-1997, he served as one of the primary trial lawyers in the prosecution of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing. Prior to that, Scott supervised the Criminal and Special Prosecutions Divisions of the Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office and focused on complex financial crime and public corruption prosecutions, where his jury trial convictions included four cases against former Cook County Circuit Court Judges. The Justice Department awarded Scott the Attorney General's Award, the Director's Award, and other commendations.
A frequent guest legal analyst on national and local television programs, Scott has appeared on numerous programs, including: "The Rachel Maddow Show," "Hardball with Chris Matthews," "The Abrams Report," "PBS NewsHour," CNN News, and "Chicago Tonight."
Capabilities
Experience
- Represented a U.S. publicly traded corporation regarding FCPA/business corruption matters in Germany, Spain, the U.K., and the U.A.E.
- Represented a French corporation in $50+ million international fraud matter featuring joint litigation arrangement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
- Represented a French municipal finance bank in a fraud and breach of contract action against the former CEO of a borrower. Obtained judgment in U.S. District Court in excess of $124 million including punitive damages in excess of $53 million.
- Represented the foregoing French bank in the collection of more than $25 million in assets, the great majority of which had been secreted in the names of nominees and off-shore trusts.
- Defended individuals in a $600 million trade secret case which also featured counterclaims for contract breach.
- Represented a Chicago hospital in an adversary proceeding alleging a wide variety of D&O claims.
- Represented third-party administrator of health care plans in numerous suits, ranging from claims disputes to defamation.
- Represented a Chicago hospital in an adversary proceeding alleging breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty against former hospital management company. Obtained judgment in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in excess of $37 million.
- Represented a Chicago hospital in an adversary proceeding alleging breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty relating to a real estate option agreement. Trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court lead to judgment in excess of $4 million and order of specific performance permitting the client to retroactively exercise an option that had expired nine years earlier.
- Defended a bankruptcy debtor in an administrative fee dispute. Defeated the $1.5 million administrative fee claim against the client in trial in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
- Represented a client victimized in a fraud scheme to protect collateral against competing claimants in a not-for-profit dissolution proceeding in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Recovered 100 percent of the client’s loss, including attorney’s fees (in excess of $22 million).
- Defended qui tam false claims. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of the case seeking damages exceeding $15 million.
- Defended a client in a contract dispute in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
- Represented a Fortune 500 client in a RICO/fraud case in U.S. District Court alleging covert misrouting of the defendant’s most expensive telephone traffic onto client’s network.
- Defended big four accounting firm in an accountant’s liability adversary case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking $30 million in damages. Obtained summary judgment.
°Some of the above representations were handled by Mr. Mendeloff prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, Leading Lawyers, 2024
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Criminal Defense: White Collar; Commercial Litigation, 2006-2025
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Illinois Super Lawyers, 2006, 2008-2024
- Listed, Chambers USA Guide, 2004-2010, 2016-2024
- Listed, Leading Lawyers Network, 2011-2023
- Named, "U.S. – Commercial Litigation Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year," ACQ5 Global Awards, 2014
- Listed, Benchmark Litigation Guide, Illinois "Litigation Star," 2010
- U.S. Department of Justice: Attorney General’s Award (highest award in U.S. DOJ), Director’s Award, and numerous other commendations
- Member, Winning Team, Global M&A Network’s 2012 Turnaround Atlas Award for "Private Equity Turnaround of the Year" for the Chapter 11 reorganization and acquisition of American Laser Skincare LLC
- Rated, AV Preeminent® 5.0 out of 5.0
- President, Federal Bar Association, Chicago Chapter, 2009-2010
- Member, Litigation Section, American Bar Association
- Member, Board of Directors, Anti-Defamation League
Credentials
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
- M.S., Foreign Service, Georgetown University
- B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Illinois
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan