A decorated veteran who graduated first in his class at Harvard Law School, he is a former law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court and then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Mr. Scotten’s practice will focus primarily on complex civil litigation, trials, and white-collar criminal investigations.
During his 10-year tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Scotten handled some of the nation’s most important cases, including United States v. Eric Adams, the appeal in United States v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, United States v. Charles McGonigal, and United States v. Lev Parnas. As a prosecutor, Mr. Scotten tried 13 cases and argued 14 appeals. Most recently serving as the office’s chief of appeals, Mr. Scotten twice received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.
“Hagan is a lawyer of extraordinary integrity and talent, and has earned his reputation as one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers,” said Moez Kaba, managing partner of Hueston Hennigan. “He is the unique combination of fearless trial lawyer and strategic appellate advocate, and we could not be happier to welcome him to the firm.”
Mr. Scotten’s practice will include all aspects of complex cases, from pretrial litigation, to resolution by trial or negotiation, to handling appeals. He also plans to leverage his extensive experience as a white-collar prosecutor to lead internal investigations, counsel corporations, and represent witnesses and subjects in investigations.
“Hagan is an incredibly experienced trial lawyer who also just happens to be a former Green Beret, first in his class at Harvard Law, and a former clerk for two current Supreme Court justices,” said Hueston Hennigan founding partner John Hueston. “He will be a natural and dynamic leader of our rapidly growing New York office.”
Mr. Scotten has prosecuted and supervised criminal cases that affect the banking and financial services industries, technology firms, education firms, state and federal agencies, and non-profits and charities. These include matters related to sanctions, export controls, international law, money laundering, bank bribery, the Truth in Lending Act, and securities fraud.
As chief of appeals, Mr. Scotten supervised a unit that handled several hundred appeals per year. These appeals covered the full range of criminal matters in the Southern District of New York, including securities and sanctions violations, all types of fraud, treaty and customary international law interpretation, money laundering, violent crime, and narcotics.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Scotten served as a captain in the U.S. Army, leading infantry, Ranger and Special Forces units. As part of his service, he commanded combined units of U.S. and Iraqi conventional and special operations soldiers in three combat tours to Iraq. Mr. Scotten led over 40 raids, capturing 124 insurgents, including senior leaders. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in combat and was rated as top captain among seven peers in his Special Forces company.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the preeminent trial law firm in the country,” said Mr. Scotten. “Hueston Hennigan offers the perfect platform for me to both try cases and handle white-collar investigations. I’m eager to contribute to the firm’s success and excited to see what we can build together.”
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Scotten was an associate at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
Mr. Scotten earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was first in his class and served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in History and Classics from Georgetown University.
Mr. Scotten’s addition to Hueston Hennigan drew widespread press, including in the New York Law Journal, Bloomberg Law, Reuters Legal, Law360 and the Daily Journal.
