Sioux Falls South Dakote SD Attorneys Johnson, Heidepriem, Abdallah & Johnson, LLP Personal Injury Lawyers

Scott A. Abdallah
Johnson, Heidepriem, Abdallah & Johnson, LLP
431 North Phillips Avenue
Suite 400
1107 Sioux Falls, SD 57104-5933

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Phone:

(605) 338-4304

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(605) 338-4162

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Position	Areas of Practice	Litigation Percentage
Bar Admissions	Education	Affiliations
Representative Cases

Scott Abdallah was born in Sioux Falls, SD. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He then graduated with honors from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, MN.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Abdallah joined the downtown Minneapolis law firm of Moss & Barnett, which is one of the largest law firms in Minnesota. He worked in the litigation department at Moss & Barnett, focusing on insurance defense and commercial litigation.

Mr. Abdallah left Moss & Barnett in January of 1995 and returned home to South Dakota when he was appointed to the position of State's Attorney for Lincoln County. When he took office at age 27, he was the youngest full-time State's Attorney in South Dakota. In 1996, he was elected to a four-year term as State's Attorney, and elected again to another four-year term in 2000.

From 1996-1999, Mr. Abdallah helped decrease felony crime by 48% in the fastest growing county in South Dakota. At the age of 29, he successfully prosecuted Donald Moeller for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old Sioux Falls girl named Becky O'Connell. The Moeller jury is one of only three juries to return a death sentence in South Dakota since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1979.

In 1999, Mr. Abdallah was appointed by Governor William Janklow to serve on the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles, making him one of the youngest members ever appointed to that board.

In 2001, Mr. Abdallah was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as South Dakota's 36th United State's Attorney. He was appointed as Interim United States Attorney in 2001 by the Honorable Chief Judge Lawrence L. Piersol and served briefly in that position before stepping down in 2002 and becoming a partner at the law firm of Johnson, Heidepriem, Miner, Marlow & Janklow.

Since joining Johnson, Heidepriem, Janklow, Abdallah & Johnson, formerly, Johnson, Heidepriem, Miner, Marlow & Janklow, Mr. Abdallah has focused his practice almost exclusively in civil litigation. In 2003, Mr. Abdallah was appointed as the firm's Managing Partner and currently serves in that position.

Mr. Abdallah and his wife Patti have two children, John and Grace.

Current Employment Position(s):: Managing Partner

Areas Of Practice:: Age Discrimination; Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employee; Bad Faith; Class Actions; Complex Litigation; Disability & Illness Discrimination; Discrimination; Employment Discrimination -- Employee; Federal Appellate Practice; Insurance Subrogation; Legal Malpractice; Medical Malpractice; Motor Vehicle; Motor Vehicle Accidents -- Plaintiff; Parole & Probation; Premises Liability -- Plaintiff; Railroad; Slip and Fall -- Plaintiff; State Appellate Practice; State Trial Practice; US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; US Supreme Court; Wrongful Death -- Plaintiff; Wrongful Termination -- Employee

Litigation Percentage:: 95% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:: Minnesota, 1993; South Dakota, 1994; U.S. District Court District of Minnesota, 1994; U.S. District Court District of South Dakota, 1995

Education:: Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1993; J.D.; Honors: cum laude; Honors: Silver Gavel Honor Society; Law Review: Editor, Hamline University Law Review, 1992 - 1993; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1990; B.S.; Honors: Dean's List, 1986 - 1990; Major: Business Management

Representative Cases:: Olson v. Equitable Life Assur. Co., 681 N.W.2d 471 (S.D. 2004); Johnson v. Armfield, 672 N.W.2d 478 (S.D. 2003); State v. Moeller, 616 N.W.2d 424 (S.D. 2000); People in Interest of Y.C., 581 N.W.2d 483 (S.D. 1998); People in Interest of Y.C., 570 N.W.2d 36 (S.D. 1997)

Professional Associations and Memberships:: South Dakota Bar Association, 1994 - Present; South Dakota State's Attorneys Association, 1996 - 2001; Board of Directors; South Dakota Board of Pardons & Paroles, 1999 - 2001; Canton Rotary, 2000 - 2001; Board of Directors; Lincoln County Republican Party, 1997 - 2001; Chairman; Sioux Falls Safety & Crime Prevention Task Force; Methamphetamine Task Force; National District Attorneys Association

Past Employment Positions:: United States Department of Justice, United State's Attorney, 2001 - 2002; Lincoln County, South Dakota, State's Attorney, 1995 - 2001; Moss & Barnett Law Firm, Associate Attorney, 1993 - 1995

Fraternities/Sororities:: Pi Kappa Alpha

Birth Information:: 1967, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States of America