Background

Scott St. John has spent years fighting federal overreach, preserving access to affordable energy, and defending States in high-profile litigation. As Louisiana’s Deputy Solicitor, he obtained or blocked numerous preliminary injunctions, served as the State’s trial counsel, and successfully argued in State and Federal appellate courts.    

Scott began his career as an intellectual property litigator in the Washington, DC, offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Covington & Burling LLP. He also served as a law clerk for the Hon. Arthur J. Gajarsa of the U.S. Court Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

He relocated to New Orleans in 2015, where he lives with his wife and four children. During his free time, Scott enjoys shooting, watching his children dominate the soccer field and fencing strip, and restoring his 129-year-old home.

Representative Matters

APA - Energy and Environmental

• Preliminarily enjoined EPA’s and DOJ’s Title VI disparate impact regulations. Louisiana v. EPA, No. 2:23-cv-692, 2024 WL 250798 (W.D. La. Jan. 23, 2024) (argued).

• Preliminarily enjoined last-minute lease restrictions and the withdrawal of 6,000,000 acres from Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261. Louisiana v. Haaland, No. 2:23-cv-1157, 2023 WL 6450134 (W.D. La. Sept. 21, 2023), intervenors’ appeal dismissed for lack of standing, 86 F. 4th 663 (5th Cir. 2023).

• Obtained a stay and reversal of a district court order vacating the 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification without a finding that the rule was unlawful. In re Clean Water Act Rulemaking, 568 F. Supp. 3d 1013 (N.D. Cal. 2021), stayed sub nom Louisiana v. American Rivers, 142 S. Ct. 1347 (2022), and rev’d, 60 F. 4th 583 (9th Cir. 2023).

• Preliminarily and permanently enjoined a California statute banning the sale of alligator products on the basis of the statute being preempted by the Endangered Species Act. April in Paris v. Bonta, 659 F. Supp. 3d 1114 (E.D. Cal. 2023) (argued).   

• Preliminarily enjoined the federal government’s use of certain social cost of carbon estimates. Louisiana v. Biden, 585 F. Supp. 3d 840 (W.D. La. 2022) (argued), vacated for lack of standing, 64 F. 4th 674 (5th Cir. 2023).

• Preliminarily and permanently enjoined a Presidentially-ordered indefinite “pause” of oil and gas leasing in federal waters, including Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257. Louisiana v. Biden, 543 F. Supp. 3d 388 (W.D. La. 2021) (argued), vacated and remanded, 45 F. 4th 841 (5th Cir. 2022) (argued), on remand, 622 F. Supp. 3d 267 (W.D. La. 2022).

APA – Immigration

• Served as lead counsel in a multistate challenge to an asylum regulation. Arizona v. Garland, No. 6:22-cv-1130, -- F. Supp. 3d --, 2024 WL 1645417 (W.D. La. Apr. 16, 2024) (submitted).

• Served as Louisiana’s trial counsel in a challenge to a policy of refusing to arrest criminal aliens upon release from state custody. Texas v. United States, 606 F. Supp. 3d 437 (S.D. Tex. 2022), rev’d for lack of standing, 143 S. Ct. 1964 (2023).

Defense of State Laws Against Constitutional Challenges

• Successfully intervened to oppose summary judgment and obtained a Rule 56(f) order in a constitutional challenge to Louisiana’s trespass to critical infrastructure statute, White Hat v. Landry, No. 6:20-cv-983, 2023 WL 3854717 (W.D. La. June 5, 2023) (submitted), on which summary judgment was subsequently granted in favor of the State, 2024 WL 1496889 (W.D. La. Mar. 28, 2024) (submitted).  

• Successfully reversed a district court’s preliminary injunction against enforcement of a state health statute. June Medical Services v. Landry, 375 So. 3d 456 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2023) (argued).   

• Obtained an order prohibiting the sealing of public documents and requiring the district court to unseal documents in a high-profile challenge to multiple state health statutes; the case settled shortly thereafter. June Medical Services. v. Phillips, 22 F. 4th 512 (5th Cir. 2022) (submitted).

• Obtained dismissal of all claims based on activist organization and attorney lacking standing to challenge a state medical consent statute. Lift Louisiana v. State, No. C710153, 2021 WL 5262272 (La. 19th JDC Aug. 20, 2021) (argued), aff’d 343 So. 3d 203 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2022) (submitted).  

• Represented Louisiana in defending a state health statute; successfully negotiated a fee award of approximately 1/3 of the amount originally claimed. June Medical Services v. Russo, 140 S. Ct. 2103 (2020).

Class Actions and Consumer Protection

• Represented Defendants in obtaining a denial of class certification followed by dismissal of all claims for lack of standing. E.B. v. Landry, No. 19-cv-862 (M.D. La.), class certification denied 2020 WL 6439502 (M.D. La. June 30, 2020) (submitted), dismissed for lack of standing, 2022 WL 1144834 (M.D. La. Apr. 18, 2022) (submitted).

• Represented a class of shareholders seeking damages for failure to disclose criminal charges against corporation before its public offering; the matter settled for a substantial sum after leaving the firm.

• Represented an objector to an excessive fee request in an antitrust matter preceded by criminal guilty pleas; successfully altered district court’s standard of review for a special master’s orders.