Scott M. Dinner

My focus

Unfair Competition, Trade Secrets, and Restrictive Covenants

A large part of my practice entails litigating unfair competition disputes, such as those involving trade secret misappropriation, restrictive covenants, business conspiracy, breaches of contract, and fiduciary duty claims. I have litigated these disputes in state and federal courts throughout the country and on behalf of clients from a wide range of industries.

Class Action and Complex Litigation

I have extensive experience helping clients navigate class actions and other collective litigation. I began my career working exclusively on antitrust and consumer fraud class actions, and now leverage my experience to help clients successfully navigate these difficult disputes.

Antitrust

I assist clients in navigating a range of complex antitrust regulations and laws. I have significant experience handling antitrust litigation matters, and also provide an array of counseling and advisory services to my clients. This includes developing and implementing antitrust compliance and training programs, conducting audits to uncover potential exposure, and working with clients to implement effective sales and distribution strategies. I also have an intimate familiarity with the reach of the federal Capper-Volstead Act, which creates an antitrust exemption for agricultural cooperatives, as well as the agricultural cooperative laws of numerous states.

Other Commercial Litigation

I also represent clients in a variety of other commercial matters, including partner and shareholder disputes, real estate disputes, commercial landlord-tenant disputes, copyright disputes, and employment disputes.

Representative experience

• Successfully obtained a full defense verdict as lead attorney in a weeklong federal jury trial regarding the Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Obtained summary reversal by the Virginia Court of Appeals of a trial court’s denial of a preliminary injunction
• Obtained a preliminary injunction enjoining a landlord from trespassing on commercial tenant’s leasehold estate
• Wrote an amicus brief on behalf of recording artists in a United States Supreme Court case involving the class action cy pres doctrine
• Obtained an order preventing former employees from certifying a class action in an action against a group of restaurants regarding the DC Paid Leave Act
• Obtained dismissal of two of three damages claims and a partial dismissal of the third claim, and negotiated a favorable resolution in a business dispute between a government contractor and a sub-contractor
• Defended an international food chain against copyright infringement claims
• Obtained a declaratory judgment in favor of a property owner after a three-day bench trial
• Successfully pursued antitrust claims against some of the world’s largest manufacturers of computer memory
• Conducted Capper-Volstead compliance analysis for a large agricultural association
• Obtained an $84 million settlement for clients in a case alleging that the defendant deliberately stripped annuity policyholders of their dividend
• Defended a government contractor against multi-million-dollar breach of contract claims

Before joining Nixon Peabody, Scott was an associate in commercial litigation at two Virginia-based law firms. In his previous firm, Scott served as the firm’s point person for all strategic decisions related to e-discovery, including collection, preservation, spoliation, and forensic examination.

Looking ahead

I see the rise of big data and the internet of things fundamentally transforming the way cases are litigated. Having legal counsel intimately familiar with these new data sources and how to leverage them will be critical to obtaining successful results in and out of the courtroom.