Attorney Profile: T. Scott Leo

T. Scott Leo received his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1980, and is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign. He established the law firm of The Law Offices of T. Scott Leo.

Mr. Leo was the lead attorney for three sureties in the Enron bankruptcy cases, and was the lead trial attorney for these sureties in the Enron-related litigation in JP Morgan Chase Bank v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., et al. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, one of the largest surety cases in history.

Mr. Leo represents sureties in structuring credit transactions in Chapter 11 proceedings and outside of bankruptcy. He represented sureties in the Kmart, Adelphia, National Steel, and Enron Chapter 11 proceedings.

As an active lecturer and scholar in the area of fidelity and suretyship, T. Scott Leo has helped define business and commercial law for the entire industry. He has also served as an adviser to the Restatement of the Law Third, Suretyship & Guaranty (1996). He is a member of the American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, and was Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee from 2002-2003.

Speaker: Current Issues Pertaining to Performances and Payment Bonds, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, November 20, 2015

Speaker: Secured Transactions, Inter-Creditor Issues and Bankruptcy, American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice, January 2015

Speaker: Builders, Construction Contractors & Developers in Bankruptcy, American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice, 2008

Speaker, Bankruptcy Considerations and Bond Defaults, American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice, Baltimore, Maryland, November 1, 2005

Speaker, A Guide for the Fidelity Insurer to the Bankruptcy Maze, The Fidelity Law Association, 2005 Annual Meeting, October 1, 2005

Speaker, Managing the Contract Bond Default, American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice, San Antonio, Texas, May 1, 2005

American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Annual Mid-Winter Meeting, New York, Program Chair, 2005

Publications

The Treatment of the Fundamental Principles of the Surety’s Subrogation Rights in the Restatement of the Law, in The Contract Bond Surety’s Subrogation Rights, American Bar Association, 2013

Customs Bonds, Claims and Litigation (Co-Author), in The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds, American Bar Association, 2012

Bankruptcy Issues and Construction Projects: A Roadmap Through Hell, What to Do When Construction Projects Go Bad, SOICA/Lorman, 2006

The Restatement of Suretyship and Guaranty: A Translation for the Practitioner (Co-Editor), ABA, 2005

A Guide for the Fidelity Insurer to the Bankruptcy Maze, XI Fid. L. J. 1, 2005

Contributor to Annotated Financial Institution Bond, 2nd Edition, Definitions “a” though “l”, American Bar Association, 2004

Bankruptcy Considerations and Bond Defaults, Bond Default Manual 2nd Edition, Clore ed., 1995

Surety’s Right to Salvage, Handling Fidelity (Co-Author), Surety and Financial Risk Claims, Cushman, Blick & Meeker ed, 1990

The Financing Surety and The Chapter 11 Principal, XXVI Tort & Ins. L.J. 7, 1990

Application of Statutes of Limitation Governing Construction Activity to Construction Bond Sureties (Co-Author), 10 The Construction Lawyer 1, January, 1990

Completion By the Surety: Assessing the Risk and Limiting the Loss (Co-Author), Bond Default Manual, 1987

Subrogation Rights of Surety on a Fidelity Bond Against the Officers and Directors of the Insured (Co-Author), XVII The Forum 2, Summer, 1983

American Law Institute, Restatement of the Law Third, Suretyship & Guaranty, Adviser, 1996
Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Chair, 2002 – 2003
Society of Illinois Construction, Attorneys
Communications Division of the Fidelity & Surety Law Committee, Chair, 1998 – 2002