Scott Donaldson

Scott Donaldson
1360 Greystone Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35406

Tel: 205-860-0184

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Member of the Alabama Chapter for Mediation Other ADR Services: ADR Training/CME, Discovery Referee, Early Neutral Evaluation, Fact Finding

Video Conferencing
Available

ADR Practice Benchmarks

Practice Commenced2021
# of MEDS (as of 29/4/25)50
# of ARBS (as of 29/4/25)

Current Practice

Online / In-Person

Biographical

Scott Donaldson has the experience and skills necessary to be an effective mediator, arbitrator, and private judge. Scott had an extensive jury and non-jury trial and appellate practice from 1984 until he was appointed as a Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Alabama in 2003. He served in that position as a general jurisdiction trial judge until he was appointed as a Judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals in 2013, where he served until his retirement in 2021. Scott has participated as trial counsel or as a judge in hundreds of non-jury trials and in over 160 jury trials, authored over 900 appellate opinions, and voted on over 5,000 appeals. He has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation involving commercial, consumer, construction, domestic relations, tort, contract, health care, government, administrative, family, real property, and estate claims and disputes. Scott was appointed by the Supreme Court of Alabama as the Chief Judge of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.

Scott is a registered mediator, arbitrator, and private judge with the Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution (alabamaadr.org). He is a primary instructor for a domestic relations/civil mediator training course approved by the Alabama Supreme Court Dispute Resolution Commission and co-developed the course (alabamamediationtraining.com/domestic-mediation-training). He has additional training in the mediation of matters involving domestic violence and is certified to mediate such matters under the Alabama Mandatory Mediation Act Ala. Code §6-6-20(f). Scott has a particular interest in the role of negotiation in conflict resolution and has completed two courses at the Harvard Program on Negotiation (pon.harvard.edu). He is a Panelist for the American Arbitration Association (adr.org).

Scott is also the instructor for the Courtroom Evidence Continuing Legal Education course, a practical evidence and trial skills course for lawyers of all experience levels, focusing on understanding and applying the most common evidence rules and evidentiary principles applicable to jury and bench trials of all types (including civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile, and probate). He has taught a trial skills course at an ABA accredited law school each semester since 2006. Scott is a faculty member of the National Judicial College (www.judges.org) and has taught many multi-day courses to hundreds of trial judges across the country. He has also taught courses for 11 state judicial associations, the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Alabama Circuit/District Judges Associations, and Probate Judges Association.

Case Experience

Appellate
Arts (Fine/Performing)
Automotive
Banking & Finance
Bankruptcy/Creditors
Business Dissolution
Civil Rights
Class Actions
Commercial/Business
Community Associations
Condominiums
Construction
Consumer Fraud
Contract Disputes
Debt Collections
Divorce (High Asset)
Education
Elder Abuse
Eminent Domain
Employment
Energy Sector (Oil/Gas)
Engineering
Environmental
ERISA
Family Businesses
Franchise
Health Care
Industrial
Insurance
Intellectual Property
Labor/Unions
Land Use/Planning
Landlord/Tenant
Legal Malpractice
Lemon Law
Libel & Slander
Local Govt./Municipalities
Media & Communications
Medical Devices
Medical Malpractice
Mining
Mortgage Foreclosure
Non-profit Organizations
Nursing Homes
Partnerships
Pensions
Personal Injury
Pharmaceuticals
Police
Postal
Premises Liability
Probate
Product Liability
Professional Fees
Professional Liability
Professional Malpractice
Professional Negligence
Property Damage
Public Policy
Railroad & Trucking
Real Estate
Religious Institutions
Securities
Sexual Harassment
Shareholder Disputes
Software
Sports
Taxation
Technology
Telecommunications
Title Disputes
Torts
Trademarks/Patents
Transportation
Trusts / Estates
Unfair Competition
Wage & Hour/FMLA
Workers' Compensation
Wrongful Death

Education

J.D. cum laude (top 10%) and member of Curia Honoris honor society Cumberland School of Law 1984
B.S. in Commerce & Business Administration, University of Alabama 1981

Memberships & Affiliations

President, James Horton Inn of Court (Birmingham, Alabama)
Fellow, Alabama Law Foundation (Member, Board of Directors & Secretary
Graduate, Leadership Alabama
Commissioner from Alabama, National Uniform Law Commission (www.uniformlawcommission.com 2011-2019)
Member, Drafting Committee to Revise or Amend the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act (2014-2017)
Elected to Alabama State Bar Commission (governing body of State Bar, 1998-judicial appointment in 2003)
Elected by State Bar Commission to the Disciplinary Commission (four person commission overseeing attorney discipline) after serving on a Disciplinary Board (five member trial panel for attorney discipline) until judicial appointment in 2003
Current or former member of numerous other judicial and legal committees including but not limited to:
Rules of Appellate Procedure
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions
Circuit Judges Association Executive committees
Vice-chair of legislatively created Business and Complex Litigation Study Committee
Chair of Alabama Judicial Article Study Committee
Past President of the city-wide PTA council and other PTAs within a public school system
Chaired a Zoning Board of Adjustment for one city and served on Planning and Zoning Commission for another city
Board service on numerous charitable organizations
Frequent speaker at civic clubs statewide on law related topics

Rates Information

Varies for in-person and on-line proceedings and number of parties. Please email scott@scottdonaldson.com for rates.

Academy Member Inducted 2022