Scott Cowperthwait is a member of the firm's International Trade Compliance and Enforcement group and the Government Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense group. His practice focuses on representing clients on U.S. and international trade compliance and enforcement, export controls and sanctions, and anti-boycott and anti-bribery matters, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and international anti-corruption laws. Scott counsels clients with respect to import-export licensing issues, internal audits and investigations, civil enforcement actions, voluntary disclosures, government investigations and the implementation of best practices for corporate governance and legal and regulatory compliance.
Scott also has extensive government investigations and white collar criminal defense experience, having previously represented corporations and individuals in government investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the State of Connecticut Office of the Attorney General and the State of Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney’s Office. Scott has also conducted internal investigations for corporations in a variety of industries, including banking and financial services, insurance/reinsurance, health care, defense/aerospace, hedge funds and information technology.
Scott also represents private and public sector entities concerning cybersecurity, infrastructure protection and homeland security issues relating to critical infrastructure sectors, including telecommunications, transportation, electric power, banking and finance, gas and oil storage and delivery, water supply, emergency services and government operations. In addition to advising companies on economic and cyber espionage vulnerability issues involving theft of data and technology, he provides guidance on designing and maintaining effective counterintelligence and compliance policies and programs.
He is the president of the Connecticut chapter of InfraGard, a public-private association focused on sharing information and intelligence concerning national infrastructure and technology issues. In that capacity, he also serves on the State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) Advisory Council. Scott was also a two-time summer law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
- Listed as a Connecticut Super Lawyer Rising Star®: Business Litigation; 2010-2012
- 40 Under Forty, Fairfield County Business Journal; 2010
- Board of Directors and Treasurer, Federal Bar Association, District of Connecticut Chapter
- Board of Directors and Secretary, Raymond E. Baldwin American Inn of Court
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- American Bar Association
- Connecticut Bar Association
- President, Board of Directors, InfraGard Connecticut Members Alliance
- Member, FBI Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association, FBI-New Haven Field Office