Jacqueline R. Scott

Ms. Scott is a co-founder of FortneyScott, where her diverse practice focuses on business, international, and workplace matters.

She counsels U.S. and foreign-based clients on complying with U.S. workplace and tax laws and assists U.S. employers in expanding outside the U.S. She regularly advises clients, many of which are federal government contractors, on workplace investigations; government procurement and related employment issues; prevailing wages under the Service Contract and Davis Bacon Acts and related matters; worker classification issues; and compliance with the wage and hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and related state laws.

Ms. Scott is a frequent lecturer on issues of international labor and employment law, including expatriate and secondment agreements, overtime, minimum wage, data privacy, worker classification status, international tax, and human rights. She holds key leadership positions in international professional organizations, including, having served as President of the Union Internationale des Avocats (International Association of Lawyers or UIA) from 2023-2024 and now serving as the UIA’s Immediate Past President. UIA is an international association of lawyers committed to the protection of human rights, including worker’s rights and the defense of their universal nature, including, specifically, the defense of lawyers’ human rights in protecting the human rights of others. Ms. Scott formerly served as Director General of the UIA’s Institute for the Rule of Law (UIA-IROL) and has also served as a member of the ITC Pro-Bono Committee on International Model Contracts for Exporting SME’s.

Ms. Scott has significant experience and expertise in adjudicating both U.S. and international commercial and employment disputes. She served for many years as the United States’ Member and First Vice President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, the seven-member, independent appellate forum of last resort that adjudicated claims made by United Nations employees worldwide. Drawing on years of experience in the securities industry as an attorney for an international financial institution, Ms. Scott has served in the United States as an arbitrator for the securities industry with the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Ms. Scott’s workplace investigations practice includes conducting workplace investigations for employers in the private, not-for-profit, and public sectors. She has investigated sensitive matters involving fraud and mismanagement; harassment and discrimination; and matters arising under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Ms. Scott’s wage and hour practice includes advising and representing clients, including not-for-profit organizations, on matters involving federal and state prevailing wage issues; and the FLSA, including minimum wage and overtime obligations and exemptions, classification of positions as exempt or non-exempt, overtime requirements for non-exempt employees and compensation strategies and policies for exempt employees. She also advises clients on matters involving the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors.

Formerly, Ms. Scott was in-house counsel to Merrill Lynch, an international brokerage firm, advising and litigating on matters involving securities and commodities compliance, various broker-dealer issues, and related employment matters. She also has extensive experience in the practice of corporate and international tax law, including project and tax-exempt bond finance, as well as ERISA, with Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, in New York, NY and Chadbourne & Parke, in Washington, D.C. Ms. Scott has trial and appellate litigation experience in state and federal courts. She formerly served as the General Counsel to the Junior League of Philadelphia.

Firm Practices

• Washington DC Expertise
• EEOC Compliance
• Inclusion and Opportunity
• International
• Federal Contractor Compliance
• Pay Equity
• Wage & Hour
• Workplace Investigations

Professional Activities

• Immediate Past President, Union Internationale des Avocats (International Association of Lawyers or UIA) - 2024-2025 
• President, Union Internationale des Avocats (International Association of Lawyers or UIA) - 2023-2024
• Director-General, Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA)’s Institute for the Rule of Law (UIA-IROL) – 2016-2022
• Member, American Employment Law Conference (AELC)
• Member, First Vice-President, United Nations Administrative Tribunal, 2003-2009
• Former Arbitrator (Public), National Association of Securities Dealers

Admitted to Practice

• District of Columbia
• Connecticut
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• Supreme Court of the United States

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center
  (LL.M in International Law/Arbitration/Tax)
• New York University School of Law (LL.M. in Taxation)
• Vanderbilt University School of Law (J.D.)
• Vanderbilt University (B.A., cum laude)

Languages

• French
• Spanish