Scott A. Abdallah

Scott Abdallah is the managing partner of Johnson, Janklow & Abdallah, LLP.  His practice is focused exclusively on personal injury, wrongful death and bad faith insurance litigation.

Scott has been continuously selected for inclusion in the national publication, US News and World Report – Best Lawyers in America and was voted personal injury “Lawyer of the Year” by the same publication in 2022. Scott is 1 of only 13 lawyers in SD to receive the highest ranking possible by Chambers USA for his litigation work and presentation skills in the courtroom. He is also 1 of only 25 lawyers in SD to receive the highest ranking possible by Benchmark Litigation - a national publication of America's leading litigation attorneys. In addition, Scott has also been continuously selected for inclusion in Great Plains Super Lawyers, which includes only 5% of the attorneys in each state. In 2010, Scott received the Toast of the Trial Lawyers Award, which is an award given annually by the SD Trial Lawyers Association to attorneys who merit special recognition. Scott has been a frequent lecturer on various legal topics at universities, high schools and legal training seminars and has appeared as a guest on multiple television news programs. 

Scott was born in Sioux Falls. He received a degree from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He then graduated with honors from Hamline University School of Law. Following law school, he joined the Minneapolis law firm of Moss & Barnett, one of the largest firms in Minnesota.

In January of 1995, Scott returned to South Dakota when he was appointed to the position of State's Attorney for Lincoln County. When he took office at 27, he was the youngest full-time State's Attorney in SD. In 1996, he was elected to a four-year term and re-elected to another four-year term in 2000. At the age of 29, Scott successfully prosecuted Donald Moeller for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old Sioux Falls girl named Becky O'Connell. The Moeller jury was only the 3rd jury in SD to return a death sentence since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1979.

In 1999, Scott was appointed by Gov. William Janklow to serve on the SD Board of Pardons and Paroles, making him one of the youngest members ever appointed to that board. In 2001, he was appointed as Interim US Attorney by the Hon. Lawrence L. Piersol, Chief Judge of the District of SD, and served in that position before leaving to join Johnson Janklow & Abdallah.