Scott A. Sinder

Partner

• ssinder@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Scott A. Sinder is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is Chair of the Government Affairs & Public Policy practice and a member of the Appellate & Supreme Court practice, focusing on government relations, insurance, appellate litigation, and a member of the crisis management practice.

Mr. Sinder represents clients on a spectrum of issues in state and federal trial and appellate courts, in state legislatures and Congress, and before regulatory agencies. He also consults on issues related to the political process, including election financing law, campaign finance, and political law generally.  He counsels clients on privacy law, and the constitutional/appellate practice, and is an experienced commercial and public law litigator. His work in these areas has included Constitutional, class action, antitrust, copyright, redistricting, and other complex civil litigation cases.

Mr. Sinder's crisis management experience includes advising financial services clients in response to a series of state attorneys, general investigations of business practices, including compensation issues, which led to several class action lawsuits.  He has advised on Congressional as well as legislative and regulatory hearings.  He has teamed with clients, trade association members and public relations firms to develop comprehensive crisis response strategies, which have enhanced client credibility and reduced exposure.

He also counsels clients to ensure that they are complying with, and can take advantage of, any enacted legislation, frequently speaking on such legislative developments at professional conferences and seminars.

For example, he provides counsel on the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the FACT Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, electronic signatures legislation, various privacy bills, and a wide range of other issues.

Previously, Mr. Sinder was a member of The Scott Group and before that, Collier Shannon Scott, chairing the trade associations practice and working with the litigation and government relations and public policy practices.

Representative Matters

• Lead counsel on a series of Constitutional challenges brought by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers against state insurance broker laws that discriminate against non-residents. He recently achieved a significant victory in this six year legal battle in which the Ninth Circuit declared Nevada’s countersignature laws unconstitutional.
• Lead counsel on behalf of a coalition of insurance agent trade associations in litigation against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over preemption determinations in the First, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits.
• Lead counsel for a coalition of insurance agent associations in IIAA v. Hawke, a case in which the DC Circuit overturned an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency opinion granting national banks the incidental power to sell crop insurance.
• Co-counsel for a coalition of insurance agent associations on the 1996 Supreme Court case Barnett Bank of Marion Co, N.A. v. Nelson.
• Co-counsel for the Florida House of Representatives on the 1993 Supreme Court redistricting case Wetherall v. DeGrandy.

Noteworthy

• General Counsel for the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers
• General Counsel for the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association.
• Served as the Deputy General Counsel for Delegate Selection and other senior roles for the Kerry for President Campaign.
• Author of the Legal Ease column of Leader’s Edge magazine, a cutting-edge, award-winning publication on the insurance industry.
  
• Scott Sinder Wins Influential Countersignature Case

Select News & Events

• Scott Sinder and Rhonda Bolton presented webinar on stimulus law changes to HIPAA, March 19, 2009
• Steptoe Adds Legal and Government Relations Talent

Selected Publications

• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - Cash for Claimants
  July 2010, LeadersEdge
• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - Young and Old
  June 2010, LeadersEdge
• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - Challenging Times
  May 2010
• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - End Game
  April 2010, LeadersEdge
• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - Strip Search
  March 2010, LeadersEdge
• Reinsurance Update
  February 26, 2010
• Reinsurance Update
  January 28, 2010
• LegalEase: Plain Talk on Legal Topics - Regs Rule!
  January 2010, LeadersEdge

More Publications »

Professional Affiliations

• Foundation to Eradicate Duchennes, General Counsel and Board Member since 2002