About Paul R
Paul R Scott is an attorney whose career is anchored in the University of Mississippi. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics in 1978, after beginning his studies in 1976. He returned to the law school and earned his J.D. in 1981. Those years in Oxford shaped his early legal training and introduced him to a network that has stayed with him through his professional life.
He is admitted to practice in Mississippi and to appear before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His professional practice is based at Smith, Phillips, Mitchell, Scott & Nowak, LLP, where he has spent his career working on matters that require both state and federal court experience. He is a member of the American Bar Association and is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, roles that reflect long-term engagement with the profession rather than short-term involvement.
Scott has been active in bar and advocacy organizations for decades. He holds life membership in the Mississippi Association for Justice and has served as its president. He is a member of the Owners Counsel of America’s Mississippi delegation. Those affiliations sit alongside civic and community ties that extend beyond the courtroom.
Civic work has been a steady thread in Scott’s public life. He served on the boards of the Kudzu Playhouse and the Historic DeSoto Foundation during the late 2000s, and he was on the DeSoto Arts Council board from 2010 to 2016. He is also associated with the Lamar Order at the University of Mississippi Law School and maintains membership in his local church, Getwell. These roles reflect a pattern of local involvement that has continued alongside his legal practice.
Colleagues describe Scott as an experienced presence in litigation settings, comfortable in both trial and appellate contexts. His courtroom work has taken him into Mississippi courts and to the Fifth Circuit on appeals arising from cases he has handled. He balances professional association commitments with community service and board work.
He currently practices at Smith, Phillips, Mitchell, Scott & Nowak, LLP, and handles matters in Mississippi and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
