Partner and Leader
Consumer Financial Services
Scott M. Pearson focuses his practice on the defense of regulatory enforcement actions and class actions, other complex business litigation, and regulatory compliance counseling. Martindale-Hubbell rates Scott “at the highest level of professional excellence.” He has been called “a true expert in complex litigation and consumer class actions” and “a no-nonsense bulldog lawyer who is highly respected by his peers and the judiciary.” In March 2018, Scott was named a BTI Client Service All-Star for “delivering the absolute best client service” based on a national survey of in-house counsel.
Prominent companies regularly entrust Scott with the handling of matters with bet-the-company exposure or extreme complexity, such as overlapping claims being pursued simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions by federal regulators, state regulators and Attorneys General, and class action plaintiffs. He also serves as a trusted strategic business advisor, drawing on more than twenty-five years of experience.
Scott is well-known in the merchant cash advance space, having defended the seminal Bistro Executive and Clark class actions that sought to recharacterize MCAs as disguised usurious loans in the early days of the product. Since that time, Scott has become a go-to compliance and enforcement lawyer for MCA companies, drafting properly structured agreements and developing compliance programs needed to mitigate regulatory risks. He represents the leading trade associations focused on alternative small business finance, as well as most of the larger players in the industry. He also has substantial experience advising on small business loans and other commercial finance products.