Patrick Scott - A Competitive Spirit
by Jay Dyer

Patrick Scott began battling for other people when he was growing up in Yuba City. He took on the bullies who preyed on other kids, losing only one fight to a future Marine drill instructor who grew up to become the "Toughest Human Being on Earth" and, eventually, a close friend. By the age of 12 he knew that he wanted to be a lawyer.

"I've always interceded for someone weaker. I taught one kid who was bullied how to box. And now I love being a lawyer. If it wasn't fun I wouldn't do it."

The Law Office of Patrick Scott doesn't believe in allowing insult to be piled onto injury. Scott has been representing injured PI plaintiffs and workers compensation applicants for fourteen years, and he's learned that the greatest joy comes not from money or accolades, but from the satisfaction of a job well done. And even though his energy level remains nearly as high as when he defended justice with his bare fists, he's tempered his competitive drive with a strong dose of practicality. "Let's not see who's the meanest nastiest junkyard," he says. "Let's just find the best result for my client."

Scott teaches clients who are hurt and scared of losing their self-sufficiency to adapt to their injuries. "A lot of clients tell me they want to keep working, they've never not worked and they can't live with themselves if they don't. And I tell them to work out like they're training for the Olympics. Make it part of your lifestyle! And I've had several of them tell me the advice saved their careers."

Scott can give such advice because he himself has had three knee surgeries and a back operation, all payback for his rugby days at Chico State, McGeorge and a stint on a club in England. Playing tight end at Chico State probably did nothing to promote healing, and as he sits in his comfortable converted-Victorian office on K Street he's living with a bad low back and arthritis in his neck. But he continues to compete in triathlons, he kayaks, and he either runs, bikes or hits the gym once a day.

River kayaking has even taught him how to practice law. He was boating alone in a storm on the Trinity River when he understood at the deeper gut level that he was defenseless in the face of Nature's uncaring force. "You have to learn to dance with the river. I teach my clients to roll with the legal profession, to dance with the system. If I'm going to drop into a keeper hole with a client, we both have to know I'll have the skill and patience to get us out."

"Patrick wants to take on the world and all the excitement that goes with it," says Scott's colleague Bill Owen, who's known him since 1973. "And he's full of compassion. Those qualities are shining."

"Pat's a good lawyer, and I think he's a wonderful guy" says Mike Conlon, who's defended some cases against Scott. "I recall a big case in 1998 involving 36 vehicles in the fog near Sacramento Airport. Pat was one of the few plaintiff's attorneys who didn't sue all 70 or 80 people named in the police report, and after his investigation he dismissed the defendants who weren't liable."

After college Scott served in the Peace Corps in India, in a village 100 miles north of Calcutta. "We were supposed to be introducing high-yield rice, but I spent most of my time trying to survive." Bangladesh's communist government was breaking up and chaos broke loose as "gunsels" chased the Peace Corps emissaries out of their houses. Scott learned that electricity and water were overrated. He learned to do without either until he could get back to the States.

Before he became a lawyer Scott worked as a claims adjuster at Wasau for three and a half years, one year while he was grinding through McGeorge. Before that he was a personal injury investigator, and he remembers one assignment when he sat in a house waiting for the subject to show up so he could catch him in the act of burglarizing it. He got the job as an adjuster only after an armed and enraged workers' compensation applicant barged into Wasau's office at 18th and J streets and shot the unlucky innocents who happened to be working there that day. The tragedy motivated Scott to become a lawyer who has forged a career out of successfully counseling against such murderous despair.

"I tell my clients I can't get them revenge, and I can't make the insurance companies care about them. But I can see that they're treated fairly and they know I'll fight for them until it's done."