Scott Shaffer

Scott has focused on complex commercial litigation and arbitration involving advertising and marketing law, class action defense, administrative investigations, contractual disputes, consumer fraud, and business competitor disputes for 20-plus years. Considered a go-to lawyer for telemarketing-related issues under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), he regularly advises clients on Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) compliance and SMS advertising issues. He also has a thriving sports law practice, particularly involving boxing and combat sports.

Having represented both plaintiffs and defendants, Scott understands the parties’ pain points and excels in effectively building the strongest case for his clients. Thoughtful, thorough, hands-on, and efficient, Scott assesses each situation from every angle, counsels clients in limiting risk and avoiding disputes, and crafts winning litigation strategies.

Advertising and Consumer Protection Litigation

Scott regularly defends clients in FTC, FCC and Attorney General matters. He has successfully resolved business disputes, achieving summary judgments and dismissals in major class actions, intellectual property, telemarketing, and other lawsuits, often establishing legal precedent. He is well-versed and highly experienced in handling issues falling under the  New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

Scott also represents clients in appeals on a range of issues and works closely with direct marketing clients to ensure compliance with consumer solicitation laws. He recently secured significant victories for clients before the New Jersey Supreme Court and New York’s First Appellate Department.

Additionally, he regularly resolves disputes through settlements, mediation and arbitration, as well as represents clients in disputes before self-regulatory organizations including the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and NAD.

Sports Law

Deeply immersed in legal issues in the boxing world, Scott represents U.S. and international promoters, managers, boxers, and boxing-related media businesses. He has represented leading fight promoters, including Sauerland Event, DiBella Entertainment, Warriors Boxing, K-1 Kickboxing, and world champions Ricky Hatton, Cory Spinks, John Ruiz, Kermit Cintron, and Krzysztof Glowacki. Scott has obtained title fights for clients against world champions and Hall of Famers Wladimir Klitschko and Bernard Hopkins, among others. In addition, he has negotiated and secured worldwide broadcast and license deals between international networks, including HBO, Showtime and ESPN, and negotiated groundbreaking international tournaments involving multiple U.S. and international promoters, boxers and sanctioning organizations.

Scott has served as an expert witness on multiple occasions in litigation involving boxing industry standards, breach of contract issues, and athletes’ lost earnings. His efforts in this field have helped secure jury verdicts wins and multimillion-dollar awards for athletes.

Before becoming a lawyer, Scott was a sportswriter for the leading boxing industry publication, The Ring magazine, and served as an officer of the Boxing Writers’ Association of America.

• Secured full dismissal of consumer fraud case on appeal for a nutritional supplement manufacturer accused of violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, which is one of the most consumer-friendly statutes in the nation. Scott moved to dismiss the case based on the purchaser’s lack of standing and lack of damages. His trial court win was affirmed by New Jersey’s Appellate Division, and ultimately by New Jersey’s Supreme Court. See Hoffman v. Pure Radiance, Inc., 2021 WL 2152960 (N.J. Super., Bergen Co., Mar. 30, 2021), 2022 WL 1739706 (N.J. App. Div. May 31, 2022), cert. denied, 252 N.J. 428 (N.J. Sup. Dec. 9, 2022).
• Represented a general contractor on appeal in a dispute between the client and a subcontractor. Successfully briefed and argued the case before a panel of five judges. In a complicated choice of law case, Scott’s client was excused from paying the subcontractor due to defects in the subcontractor’s license. See Capstone Bus. Funding, LLC v. Shames Constr. Co., Ltd., 169 N.Y.S.3d 599 (N.Y. 1st Dep't 2022).
• Served as an expert witness in a jury trial involving undefeated heavyweight boxer Mladen Miljas. Scott was retained to quantify the boxer’s lost earnings as a result of his promoter’s breach of contract. After his expert report and trial testimony in the Southern District of Iowa, Scott’s calculations were adopted by the jury, who awarded the boxer in excess of $1.3 million. Miljas vs. Greg Cohen Promotions, Case No. 4:20-cv-320, ECF # 170 (S.D. Iowa Feb. 13, 2023).
• Achieved class certification denial in a potential $20 million telemarketing suit for a text-messaging service named in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit as a result of a marketing campaign conducted by Domino’s, a client of the messaging service. Scott’s winning strategy focused on the actions of the individual consumers rather than Domino’s. See Anderson v. Domino’s Pizza, Inc., 2012 WL 1076261 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 30, 2012).
• Obtained full dismissal of two parallel lawsuits filed by Verizon seeking tens of millions of dollars under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Represented two small companies accused of illegal robocalls by Verizon. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties at stake and the plaintiff having unlimited legal resources, Scott convinced the judge that Verizon was not eligible to be a plaintiff under the TCPA because that statute was meant to protect consumers, not telephone service providers. See Cellco Partnership v. Wilcrest Health Care Mgmt., 2012 WL 1638056 (D.N.J. May 8, 2012); Cellco Partnership v. Dealers Warranty, LLC, 2010 WL 3946713 (D.N.J. Oct. 5, 2010).

News

Speaking Engagements

Publications

Alerts

Honors & Recognitions

• Consistently recognized as a “Key Lawyer” and as a “Recommended Lawyer” in The Legal 500 U.S. guide for Media, Technology and Telecoms – Advertising and Marketing: Transactional since 2017

Professional

• New York State Bar Association
• New Jersey Bar Association
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Sports Law Committee

Blog Posts