Scott Iseman

An accomplished trial lawyer.

Scott is an accomplished trial lawyer. From Manhattan to Plattsburgh, he has defended clients in high-stakes trials in state and federal courts, handling roughly 300 criminal cases and taking approximately 35 jury trials to verdict. His disciplined, diligent approach and passionate defense style has produced pretrial dismissals and not guilty verdicts at trial. These results have kept Scott on the Super Lawyers list as a top criminal defense lawyer in upstate New York every year since 2021, following six years on its Rising Stars list, and earned recognition from U.S. News and World Report’s Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Scott routinely represents business leaders, public officials, and successful professionals in various state and federal criminal and civil investigations and proceedings. Scott has also developed deep knowledge and experience defending students in college disciplinary and Title IX proceedings. When reputations and livelihoods are at risk, clients come to Scott for immediate, actionable advice, and a first-rate legal defense.

Most of Scott’s clients are referred to him by other attorneys or past clients, which is the best professional compliment one can receive. He purposefully limits his clients so that he can give each client the time and attention they need to get the best possible result.

“I truly enjoy arguing before juries, because juries are made up of normal citizens and they get to be the decision makers about whether someone is guilty of a crime, not the government. I put a lot of trust and faith in that system, and I have been consistently rewarded for that trust and faith.”

Prosecutor and Marine judge advocate.

Scott received his B.A. from Hamilton College and his law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law magna cum laude, where he was the Managing Editor of the Buffalo Law Review and was inducted into the Order of Barristers, the national honor society for trial and appellate advocacy. Buffalo awarded him the Matthew J. Jensen Appellate Practice Award, the James M. Keiffer Trial Excellence Award, and named him overall winner and best oralist of the Desmond Moot Court Competition. After law school, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate, earning the Naval Justice School Award for Trial Advocacy, becoming the Senior Trial Counsel at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and overseeing all military criminal investigations and prosecutions there. He also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina where he prosecuted federal crimes.

Scott then spent seven years at O’Connell & Aronowitz in Albany, the last three as partner, handling criminal matters at trial and on appeal before founding Iseman PLLC in 2021. Scott also gained significant civil litigation experience in Article 78 proceedings, Title IX matters, civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, personal injury cases, breach of contract, and business disputes.

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region.

Raised in Cambridge, New York, Scott is a lifelong resident of the Capital Region, and returned home after his military service. He is the immediate past president of the Saratoga County Bar Association and continues to serve on its Board of Directors, and he is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Scott also previously served for several years as a member of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Veteran’s Business Council and as a Director of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 2021 the New York State Bar Association recognized his service with its Pro Bono Award.

Can we win? Here is what winning has looked like.

It is the question every client asks in the first meeting, and the honest answer starts with this: the best results are the charges that never get filed and the cases that end before trial. When a case does get filed, this is what fighting it has produced.

Fighting has meant every felony corruption count against a state senator dismissed before trial, a defense theory in the Buffalo Billion case twice vindicated at the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal sting where the jury rejected both mandatory minimum gun counts, arson charges thrown out mid trial, acquittals for an 18 year old who refused the plea deal, a veteran found not guilty at the bench trial he chose, fraud charges a DA’s office agreed to dismiss, and students at SUNY Albany and Skidmore found not responsible or never brought to a hearing at all.

The full record, told matter by matter and including the firm’s civil defense results, lives on its own page.

See the case results →

Every case is different. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Recognized by the profession.

The distinctions below reflect peer review, client feedback, and Scott’s record in New York’s state and federal courts.