Law360 Profiles Elizabeth Scott as a Rising Star

Akin Gump litigation partner Elizabeth Scott is one of four Akin Gump practitioners recognized as Rising Stars by Law360 (click here to learn more).

In its profile of Scott as a Rising Star, Law360 covered a range of topics, including:

• What hooked her on government contracts work: When she was in kindergarten, Scott said that her mother, who was in law school at the time, would read to her from law books at bedtime. This piqued her interest in the law and sparked a passion that has not faded. After being assigned to work on False Claims Act cases as a new associate, Scott subsequently became focused on government contracts when she was joined the team representing Trinity Highway Products against claims that it so substantially changed the design of its ET-Plus guardrail that it no longer functioned as originally intended. “The False Claims Act was what brought me into government contract work. I fell in love with the statute,” she said. “You’re always dealing with different industries and different products, and I really like digging in and getting to know about a product and how it fits into that industry.”
• Her proudest moment: After a federal jury found Trinity liable for changing the design of the guardrail, and a judge entered a $663.4 million final judgment in 2014, Scott played a key role in the appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which resulted in the judgment being overturned. “It was the right result,” Scott said. “The ruling was a finding that the client committed no fraud at all, which was hugely important for our client and its employees. We hope that it will be an important precedent for False Claims Act and government contract cases.”
• What motivates her: Scott said community involvement and pro bono work have been a big motivation in her career. In one particular pro bono case, she represented religious organizations fighting a Dallas ordinance that imposed restrictions on sharing food with homeless people. Scott was part of the team that successfully challenged the statute under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. While the suit was out of her practice area, it was an important matter that inspired her to keep practicing law. “I really love what I do. I love being able to receive great results for my clients,” Scott said.
• On the future of government contracts law: Scott said a recent Department of Justice memo discussing the circumstances under which the government should consider dismissing FCA cases brought by whistleblowers will be an important development to watch. “It’s something that we hope the government would utilize more frequently in these cases that, certainly on the defense side, we believe have no merit and can carry on for many years and be very costly to our clients,” Scott said. “We hope that memo might reflect a change and a more frequent use of that dismissal power.”