Education

  • J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1981
  • M.B.A., University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 1981
  • B.A., Yale University, 1976

Bar Admissions

  • Arizona, 1981

Scott D. DeWald

Partner
40 North Central Avenue
Suite 1900
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Phone 602.262.5333
Fax 602.734.3745

About Scott DeWald

Mr. DeWald is a partner, and a leading attorney in the firm's Corporate, Tax and Securities Group. He practices in the areas of corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, lending and other commercial transactions, with particular emphasis on the legal needs of high-tech, e-commerce and emerging companies and limited liability companies.

Mr. DeWald has represented buyers, sellers, investors, borrowers and lenders in connection with stock and asset acquisitions, secured loans, mergers and joint ventures in a variety of industries including software, employee leasing, contracting, newspapers, banking and university technology licensing. He has also represented a wide variety of corporations, directors and shareholders, as well as partnerships and limited liability companies, in complex transactions and disputes. Mr. DeWald also has experience in nonprofit corporations, banking law, real estate law and commercial litigation.

He has represented issuers, underwriters and venture capital investors in connection with public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, including debentures and preferred stock financing transactions spanning start-up capital, venture capital and initial and secondary public offerings. He has also represented public universities, state agencies and private, non-profit corporations in tech-transfer and collaboration agreements. For a bank, his work involved compliance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as administered by the FDIC, in connection with publicly traded preferred stock and the later sale of that bank, including executive employment and merger agreements and the preparation of the S-4 registration statement and proxy materials. For two airlines, Mr. DeWald’s work involved public offerings of common stock. He has represented a local sports entity in connection with its offering of securities, purchase of a franchise, and agreements with the City of Phoenix for the construction, financing and operation of a sports facility.

Mr. DeWald has been active in the drafting of legislation amending the Arizona laws governing limited liability companies, corporations and partnerships.

Representative client industries include automobile franchises, Internet and e-commerce companies, software development and licensing, computer hardware manufacturing, plastics manufacturing, computer data services and consulting, cable television, commercial spin-offs of university research, healthcare, financial institutions, contracting, employee leasing, newspapers and the hospitality industry.

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Former Chair, Business Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona, Executive Council, and current Chair of Legislation Committee
  • Maricopa County Bar Association Corporate Counsel Division, Member at Large for the Board of Directors, Former Secretary
  • Arizona Technology Council, Former Board Member and Former Chair of the Law and Technology Committee
  • Invest Southwest Conference, Former Committee Co-Chair and Former Chair of its precursor, the Arizona Venture Capital Conference, and has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Conference each year since its inception in 1992
  • Lectured and published articles on limited liabilities companies, securities, venture capital, legal opinions, e-commerce and the Uniform Commercial Code
  • University of Phoenix, Past Professor (Business Law in the M.B.A. program)
  • Active in the drafting of 2008, 1998, 1997, 1996 and 1994 legislation amending the Arizona Limited Liability Company Act and 1990 technical and clarifying amendments to the Arizona Antitakeover Statute affecting Arizona public corporations.
  • Valley Leadership Class of XIV, Member
  • State Bar of Arizona Business Law Section Committee on Rendering Opinions in Business Transactions, Past Member
  • Phoenix Theatre (formerly Phoenix Little Theatre), Past President and Director (1990-1998)
  • Translational Research Advisory Committee, Past Member (addressed strategies for the biosciences in Arizona)
  • Friends of Arizona Highways Magazine, Former Director (1988-1993)
  • Kiwanis Club of Arcadia, Past Charter Member, Director and Secretary (1987-1989)
  • Wildest Club in Town (Men’s Auxiliary for the Phoenix Zoological Society), Past Member (1986-1987)
  • Arizona Foundation for Blind Children, Past Director (1982-1983)
  • Arizona Legal Professionals Credit Union, Past Director (1982-1983)
  • Previously served on boards or committees of the Arizona Technology Incubator, the Arizona Partnership for the New Economy, and the Technology Deployment Task Force of the Arizona Innovation Network.

Publications

  • Co-Author, "President Obama Signs the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act," Lewis and Roca LLP Client Alert, April 2012
  • Author, "Recent Changes to Arizona's Business Entity Laws," Arizona State Bar eLegal eNewsletter,September 2008
  • Co-Author, “The New Arizona Employer Sanctions Bill, The Competing Ballot Initiative, and the ‘Business Death Penalty’,” The Business Lawyer, September 2007
  • Author, “Business Legislation Committee Report,” The Arizona Business Lawyer, Spring 2007
  • Co-Author, “Select Internet Privacy Issues for the Business Lawyer,” The Corporate Counselor, Fall 2003
  • Author, “Back to Basics: Business Fundamentals Are the Key to Scoring VC Dollars,” bizAZ, March/April 2003
  • Author, “Funding Fundamentals: Words of Wisdom for the Entrepreneur Seeking Company Investment,” bizAZ, March/April 2002

Other Distinctions

Mr. DeWald has been selected as a 2011 Arizona's Finest Lawyers and is listed in multiple editions, including 2011, of Chambers USA© in Corporate Law and Mergers & Acquisitions. He is listed the 2007-2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate and Securities Law.

He is rated by Martindale-Hubbell as an “AV/Preeminent Attorney.” Mr. DeWald is listed in the 2007 and 2009 editions of Southwest Super Lawyers in the category of Mergers & Acquisitions, and in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 editions in the category of Business/Corporate Law. Mr. DeWald has been named North Valley Magazine's Top Lawyer 2011, in the area of Commercial Finance. He is also included in the 2010 and 2012 editions of AZ Business Magazine's Top Lawyers in Corporate Law and Banking.

Mr. DeWald was interviewed in 2002 on Sky Radio regarding Mergers & Acquisitions. To listen to the program, click on Lewis and Roca’s link on Sky Radio.