Patrick S. Scott Attorney At Law

Pat is a bankruptcy law attorney admitted to practice in all state and federal courts in Florida, including the bankruptcy courts of all three districts. He holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Best Lawyers in America.

During the past 43 years, Pat has represented debtors, creditors, creditors' committees and trustees in virtually every type of chapters 7 and 11 case. He has experience with health care, manufacturing, construction, real estate and retail cases, as well as cases involving stockbroker (SIPC) liquidations, Ponzi schemes, and offshore schemes. He has also tried hundreds of cases and evidentiary hearings in the bankruptcy courts and has more than 40 decisions in his clients’ favor published in West’s Bankruptcy Reporter. Pat successfully represented the defendant in the only jury trial that has been held in the Southern District of Florida bankruptcy courts. A lecturer on topics of bankruptcy and commercial litigation, he is the author of a Sanders Award-winning article on mortgage foreclosures as fraudulent transfers.

He has particular experience in bankruptcy cases involving fraud, fraudulent transfers, misappropriations and exemption planning. 

• Background

  Pat is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School. He is a member of The Florida Bar, the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida (past president), the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Broward County Bar Association.

• Education
  • University of Notre Dame, B.A. (1976)
  • University of Notre Dame, J.D.  (1979)
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
  • Bankruptcy courts in all three districts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court
• Professional Associations and Memberships
  • American Board of Certification
    • Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law
  • The Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida, Past Presidents Council
  • The American Bankruptcy Institute
  • Broward County Bar Association
• Awards and Recognitions
  • AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell
  • Chambers USA, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, 2017-2023
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2024
    • Lawyer of the Year, Litigation - Bankruptcy, 2020
    • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
    • Litigation - Bankruptcy
  • Florida Super Lawyers, 2009-2023
  • "Top Lawyer," Fort Lauderdale Illustrated, 2020-2021
• Articles and Publications
  • "Bankruptcy Trustees Borrow Longer Look-Back Provisions Meant for Governmental Creditors," American Bankruptcy Institute, December 2016
  • "Supreme Court to Consider Second Mortgage Strip Offs," Daily Business Review, December 16, 2014
  • "Chapter 20 Lien-Stripping Approved by Eleventh Circuit," Commercial Law World, November 2014
  • "Commingled Funds in Corporate Debtor's Accounts Not Subject to Forfeiture," Westlaw Journal Bankruptcy, June 19, 2013
• Presentations and Seminars
  • "Husky Aftermath - Where Do Things Stand With 'Actual Fraud'?" American Bankruptcy Institute Webinar, July 27, 2018
  • "Governor Broward and His Legacy," Fort Lauderdale Historical Society Lecture Series, January 11, 2016