Scott Edward Stewart

My most important job when I am entrusted to represent a devastatingly injured victim is to insure they receive the best possible representation I can provide. After 31 years I am still learning. The difference in a difficult case between losing or receiving what is just compensation is hiring a skilled lawyer who has the time and ability to do the job correctly. If you think my qualifications and experience reflect that I can do the job well for you I would be honored to be given the chance.

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Scott E. Stewart heads the firm's legal malpractice and products liability section. He also specializes in insurance law bad faith claims, personal injury including vehicle and truck accidents, maritime law, intentional tort, social security disability, drug recall litigation and other areas of personal injury practice. (See the information link to the right for more information on all these specialties.) 

Scott graduated from Bethany College in 1973 and from the Case Western Reserve School of Law with his Juris Doctorate in 1976. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar the same year. He is admitted to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and other Federal Courts.

Scott was honored by gaining membership as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in May of 1993. He was recertified in 1998, 2003 and 2008. He is one of 153 in Ohio. It is the only group that can certify a civil trial advocate. He is an Ohio Super Lawyer for at least the last four years, received for the top 5% in the State as voted by his peers and a Best Lawyer in America for the last 10 years also reserved for the top 5% of the nation's lawyer as voted by his peers. He is a member of the Million Dollar and Multiple Million Dollar Advocates Forum received to persons in his case who have the verdicts exceeding $2,000,000 or more or settlements over $2,000,000. Scott has had four verdicts and settlements exceeding that criterion. He is AV rated by Martindale & Hubbell. The highest rating given.

Scott is a member and past president of the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys as well as a member of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association where he is currently a district representative. As a member of the Cleveland Bar Association, Scott is the past chairman of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and was a former director on the Young Lawyers' Section. Currently, he is a past chairman of the Common Pleas Committee of the Litigation Section.

He is a Diplomat in the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and a member of the American Judicature Society, the National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives, the Ohio State Bar Foundation and one of fewer than a hundred and thirty associates of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

In addition to lecturing to other practicing lawyers in Ohio, Scott has published on the topics of intentional tort law and experts.

Scott has been a partner since 1983:

"While our firm's expertise and mine over the last 33 years is in handling legal malpractice cases, I have handled those malpractice cases in many areas other than my own specialty.

Over the course of my years, outside of legal malpractice, I have handled many negligence claims, product liability claims (which are claims for defective products), aviation claims for both defective aircraft and negligence in flying that aircraft, admiralty cases that involve the specific are of the law that involves claims involving vessels.

I have handled many claims involving insurance including uninsured motorist and what they call bad faith litigation when an insurance company does not treat its insured or does not treat a defendant correctly and makes an offer to my client who then exposes that defendant to a judgment that is in excess of their insurance coverage. That is called third-party bad faith. Our firm had the original verdict in the State of Ohio of over seven figures for an insurance bad faith claim that occurred in a third-party situation where we took over the bad faith claim for a defendant who injured our client. We obtained a verdict against that defendant in 7 figures well over his insurance policy and then had that defendant transfer that verdict to our client to collect and our client brought the claim against the insurance company for the insurance company's bad faith against their own insured, the defendant, as a result of their failure to offer their policy limit when it was demanded.

I have also handled safe place to work claims, VSSR claims, accounting and other professional malpractice. I have handled legal malpractice cases in all of those fields were I am very conversant and understand the underlying law and have an ability myself to determine whether there is a deviation and damages even before I obtain an expert.

However, in addition to that, I have successfully handled very significant legal malpractice cases that took place in areas that I had not been exposed to before. For example, an investor Ponzi scam resulted in our client retaining an attorney to handle the claim against the investment houses. Although I had not had previous experience in that, I learned the entire area of the law, worked with an expert, and was successful in bringing the legal malpractice claim against that attorney and actually in discovering what had previously not been determined and was not determined even by our own expert until I saw it, that the negligent attorney entered into an arbitration proceeding which by definition for every attorney in the country who entered it, prejudiced their client because the standard of review in the arbitration was far greater and harder than the law required it to be. That area was: an arbitration procedure defined our client had to show reasonable reliance. The standard or burden should have been actual reliance which is a far easier standard to prove."

2010 selected as a fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America. This is a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of 1% of American lawyers. Fellowship in LCA is highly selective and by invitation only. Fellows are selected based upon excellence and accomplishment in litigation both at the trial and appellate levels and superior ethical reputation.