Previous Law Firm Name

• Douglas Scott

Law Firm Overview

I was born in Coronado, California, at the naval air station that used to be across the bay from San Diego. My father was a carrier pilot; my mother was a Kentucky girl who came for work in the war industries.

We moved frequently as I was growing up because of with my father's Navy orders. Among other places, we were stationed in Florida, California, Texas, and Virginia. It took me 11 years to graduate from high school (some would say that had nothing to do with the moving). After my dad retired, we moved to Oxford, Mississippi during the peak of the civil rights storm, where my dad completed his M.B.A. Later, we moved to rural North Carolina when he got a civilian job. It was there that I developed my fondness for pork barbecue, aimless road trips, and that special, curious accent that North Carolinians often develop.

I attended college, graduate school and law school in North Carolina. It was there that I also spent the first eight years of my law practice. It was challenging work, representing the interests of the poor in the courts and before the legislature as a legal aid lawyer. Subsequently, I moved to Richmond, Virginia to manage one, and then another, legal aid program.

In due course, I had one of my periodic mid-life crises, and went to work as a business lawyer for a mid-sized downtown Richmond law firm. It was a schizoid place, constantly pulled in one way or another. I worked my way from associate to partner in time, and subsequently worked my way back down, taking an "of counsel" role when it became apparent that I needed to do something else with myself. During this time, the focus of my practice had turned to business bankruptcy issues and federal civil litigation.

While downtown, I had a triple bypass operation. It suddenly became apparent to me that there: were better things to do with my life than to work myself to death. During my time downtown, my two daughters had zoomed up without me hardly noticing (I was at work doing the 1900+ hours, yes?). Through no fault of mine, my oldest, Elizabeth, graduated with distinction from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, the last of the great books curriculum schools in this country. Elizabeth now lives in Chicago, where her abilities to read ancient Greek and to work out Pythagoras' geometry problems has recently gotten her laid off from the web design firm that had just hired her. My younger daughter, Julia, completed her sophomore year at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and then decided that she hated Baltimore. More than just that, she determined that the school wasn't worth the money to her because she wasn't learning what she thought she should. Good for her. She's back home now, unemployed. I'll keep you posted.

I continue apace. I am still at least five years behind on the third Five Year Plan to renovate my house in North Richmond. I am hopeful that the new President will address the issues with my house when he gets around to infrastructure improvements.

I started my own commercial bankruptcy practice a couple of years ago, and I'm quite happy with it. It's just me, so I always know where the blame should lie. About a year ago, I spent six months flat on my back due to a head injury. Like the old joke, I still can't play the piano. I am very pleased to have gotten through the injury almost without lasting effects. Things are just now coming back to a familiar, but nevertheless warped, normality. Amen.

I am still breathing, which continues to be a pretty good thing, but somewhere along the way have lost my sense of smell. Good exchange, it seems to me.

Areas of Practice

• Bankruptcy - Chapter 11 Reorganization 25%
• Bankruptcy - Creditor's Rights 25%
• Bankruptcy - Small Business 25%
• Bankruptcy - Local Counsel 10%
• Bankruptcy - Defense of Avoidance Actions 15%

Honors and Awards

• Martindale-Hubble-- BV

Representative Cases

• In re Shelton, 201 B.R. 147 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1996)
• Whitaker v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 115 F. Supp. 2d 612 (E.D. Va. 1999)
• In re LCCH Liquidating Corp., 276 B.R. 106 (Bankr. W.D. Va. 2001)
• In re Trak Auto, 277 B.R. 655 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2002)
• AMF v. Herricks Fore Plan, Inc. (In re AMF Bowling Worldwide, Inc.), 278 B.R. 96 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2002)
• Property Technologies, Ltd., v. Telnet Corp. et al., 296 B.R. 701 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2002)
• HHC Associates v. Assurance Co. of America, 256 F. Supp. 2d 505 (E.D. Va. 2003)
• In re Rothchild's Jewelers, Inc., 337 B.R. 561 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2004)
• Receiver v. June, 359 F. Supp. 2d 510 (W.D. Va. 2005)
• Receiver v. Walker, 369 F. Supp. 2d 818 (W.D. Va. 2005)
• Receiver v. June, 420 F. Supp. 2d 493 (W.D. Va. 2006)
• Receiver v. June, 432 F. Supp. 2d 635 (W.D. Va. 2006)
• Kaufman & Canoles, PC, v. RAI Funding, LLC (In re Brandseed Media Commerce Group, LLC ), 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 3636 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2006)
• Professional Delivery Systems v. Penske Truck Leasing Corp. (In re Professional Delivery Systems), 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 3703 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2006)
• Watts Contractors, Inc., v. Watts (In re Watts Contractors, Inc.), 2007 Bankr. LEXIS 109 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2007)
• In re; Derron Simon, 2008 Bankr. LEXIS 2787 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2008)

West Practice Categories

Banking & Finance Law, Loan Workouts, Bankruptcy Law, Commercial Bankruptcy, Creditors' Rights, Debt Discharge, Reorganizations & Restructuring, Workouts, Business & Commercial Law, Contracts, Debtor/Creditor, Secured Transactions, Transactions, Uniform Commercial Code, Litigation & Appeals, Bankruptcy Litigation, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Trial Practice