About W. Scott
W. Scott Harkey graduated from North Carolina State University in 2007 and earned his J.D. from Campbell Law School in 2012. His early legal work included a 2011 clerkship with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, followed by roles at Campbell Law School as a research assistant and a temporary law clerk at the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2012. Those positions gave him direct courtroom exposure and experience in appellate procedure before he entered private practice and public service.
He moved into practice in 2013, serving both as an associate at Broughton, Wilkins, Sugg & Thompson and as a white collar prosecutor for the State of North Carolina. The combination of private firm work and prosecutorial responsibilities shaped his view of litigation from both sides of the aisle. He handled investigative matters and courtroom proceedings, developing familiarity with evidentiary issues, grand jury matters and the dynamics of criminal prosecutions.
In 2020 he was appointed Senior Financial Crimes Prosecutor for the State of North Carolina, a role that concentrated on complex financial investigations and prosecutions. A year later he founded Harkey Litigation and assumed the role of lawyer and managing partner there. He is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the United States District Court for the Western and Middle Districts of North Carolina.
Harkey holds board certification in North Carolina Criminal Law from the North Carolina State Bar and is a Certified Superior Court Mediator through the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. Those credentials reflect both trial experience and an ability to pursue negotiated resolutions. He maintains active memberships in the North Carolina Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Forsyth County and Davidson County bar associations, the North Carolina Bar Foundation, the Chief Justice Joseph Branch Inn of Court, the Forsyth County Business Lawyers Association, and the 18th and 21st Judicial District Bar Associations.
Colleagues and clients find his background notable for its mix of prosecutorial work, federal clerkship experience and private litigation practice. He has handled cases across a range of criminal and regulatory matters and has experience in mediation and courtroom trial practice. He currently concentrates his practice on criminal law and litigation arising from financial and regulatory disputes.
