John Scott

Last modified on: 11-01-2021 14:30:18


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General Information

Profession: Attorney Home Town: Fort Worth Spouse: Talley


Personal Information

12/5/2022: Texas Secretary of State John Scott announced that he will resign from office at the end of the year to return to his private legal practice. Secretary Scott officially began serving as Texas Secretary of State on October 28, 2021 after being appointed by Governor Greg Abbott on October 21, 2021.

John Scott of Fort Worth is an attorney with over 33 years of experience. He has successfully tried over 100 lawsuits and has experience handling cases at the United States Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Texas, United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits, almost all Texas Courts of Appeals, United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western District Courts of Texas, Texas state courts, and the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The courtroom victories include securing, at the time, the largest judgment in an asbestos trial in U.S. history, as well as the successful defense of an HMO, which the National Law Journal declared the U.S. Healthcare Victory of the Year.

Scott previously served as Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation for then-Attorney General Greg Abbott. Scott oversaw all civil litigation, including over 22,000 lawsuits involving Texas. Subsequently, Scott was appointed the first Chief Operating Officer of the Health and Human Services Commission. He oversaw the successful overhaul of the agency, its 56,000 employees, and its over $50 billion biannual budget. After returning to private practice, Governor Abbott appointed Scott as the Chair of the Board for the Department of Information Resources (DIR). At DIR, Scott developed the strategic plan for technology and security at Texas executive branch agencies and boards.