Scott A. Edelman

Primary Focus & Experience

Over the course of his career, Mr. Edelman has taken more than 20 cases to trial and argued dozens of appeals, accumulating a slew of honors along the way. In 2017, Mr. Edelman was inducted as a fellow into The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). He has tried dozens of civil and criminal cases representing numerous corporations and individuals.

In 2025, Mr. Edelman represented SoundExchange (an entity that acts on behalf of the record industry and performing artists) in a month-long proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board to determine the rates non-interactive webcasting services must pay for the rights to play sound recordings for the years 2026-2030. The case is awaiting decision.

In 2025, Mr. Edelman represented Susquehanna International Group, LLP (SIG) and various affiliated entities in a jury trial in Pennsylvania state court concerning certain defendants’ investments in ByteDance (the company that owns TikTok). The case settled during trial.

In 2024, Mr. Edelman successfully represented a criminal defendant in New York State Supreme Court. The case arose out of an allegation made by Don Henley of the Eagles that handwritten lyrics for the song “Hotel California” had been stolen from Mr. Henley. After two weeks of trial, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the case against Mr. Edelman’s client.

In 2023, Mr. Edelman represented BMI (an organization that represents the interests of songwriters in the United States) in a five-week trial that resulted in BMI obtaining a 138% increase in the rate paid to songwriters by Live Nation, AEG and other live concert promoters.  

In 2021, Mr. Edelman represented Auven Therapeutics in defending a billion dollar claim in which the plaintiff, Highland Capital Management, sought to invoke theories of veil piercing and alter ego to hold Auven responsible for the non-payment of notes issued by another company. Mr. Edelman successfully obtained a directed verdict against the plaintiff at the conclusion of its case.

In 2017, Mr. Edelman represented Dycom Industries, Inc. in a five-day trial relating to disputes arising out of non-competition and related provisions in a Stock Purchase Agreement. The case settled after trial.

In 2016, Mr. Edelman secured a significant victory against the DOJ on behalf of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) on music licensing affecting the more than $2 billion music performing rights industry, which garnered him recognition by The American Lawyer as “Litigator of the Week.”

In 2015, Mr. Edelman prevailed on behalf of BMI at trial against Pandora in a music licensing rate case that set the new market rate for all digital music services and awarded BMI a significant fee increase.

In 2014, Mr. Edelman prevailed at trial on behalf of Citi Global Markets, securing an injunction preventing an arbitration under FINRA in a high-profile case brought by a Saudi investor.

Mr. Edelman won a major trial victory for Cerberus Capital Management related to the multi-billion-dollar merger with United Rentals in the first M&A litigation arising out of the troubled credit markets to proceed to trial in Delaware in 2007.

Current or Recent Representative Matters:

• Represents NVIDIA in a securities class action pending in the Northern District of California.
• Represents a large REIT in a dispute in Delaware Chancery Court over a multi-property sale leaseback transaction.
• Represented Vereit, Inc. (formerly American Realty Capital Properties, Inc.) in securities fraud actions filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, including putative class actions and shareholder derivative actions.
• Represented SQM, the world’s largest producer of specialty fertilizers and iodine in securities class action relating to investigations by Chilean government authorities concerning alleged improper payments to Chilean political officials.
• Represents one of the Big Four accounting firms in a lawsuit arising out of the decline in the share price of SCANA, a regulated utility that abandoned a multi-billion-dollar nuclear power project.
• Represented Equitable Insurance in class action and opt-out claims arising out of Equitable’s increase in Cost of Insurance rates.   
• Represents BMI in a rate court proceeding against the Radio Music Licensing Committee.
• Represented a private equity fund in fraudulent conveyance claims pending in Delaware Bankruptcy Court arising out of recapitalization of DSI Renal.
• Represented Atrium Holding Company and certain of its affiliates in litigations that included matters before the Delaware Chancery Court and Kansas Bankruptcy Court regarding a Right of First Refusal on a portfolio of hotels owned by The John Q. Hammons Revocable Trust.
• Represented trustees of a multi-hundred-million-dollar trust in connection with claims brought by the trust’s beneficiaries in Florida state court.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Mr. Edelman has been ranked by Chambers & Partners as a leading litigation lawyer for 22 years. Highly regarded for his extensive legal skills in and out of the courtroom, clients describe Mr. Edelman as “a phenomenal attorney whose courtroom style is nothing short of perfection” (Chambers). As one of the most versatile litigators in the country, Mr. Edelman is ranked by Chambers as a leading lawyer in Securities Litigation, General Commercial Litigation, and White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations. Mr. Edelman has been recognized by Billboard as a Top Music Lawyer. Additionally, he is recognized as a leading litigation attorney in Benchmark Litigation, Lawdragon and Legal 500.

Mr. Edelman joined Milbank in 1994 and became a partner in 1995. Prior to joining Milbank, Mr. Edelman served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1990 to 1994. He started his career at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Harvard Law Review and a John Olin Fellow in Law and Economics and received his B.A. (summa cum laude) and M.A. degrees, both in Economics, from Yale University.