Hall Booth Smith, P.C.

Biography

Scott MacLatchie is a Partner in our office in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he has nearly forty years’ experience as a trial attorney, law enforcement officer, and consultant to law enforcement agencies.

Scott has served as trial counsel for numerous law enforcement agencies on both coasts, and has defended class action litigation involving conditions at the Los Angeles County Jail, the nation’s largest municipal jail system. He regularly handles cases in both federal and state courts at both the trial level and on appeal. In addition to his active litigation practice, Scott also serves as police attorney for six police departments in the Charlotte region. He also appears as an on-air commentator for Charlotte’s ABC affiliate on high profile law enforcement topics.

Scott served 42 years as a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department before retiring in 2021. Scott spent most of that time in patrol assignments, including a 22-year stint at LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau, working saturation patrol in target areas countywide. Due to Scott’s background, he is often engaged to educate and provide counsel to law enforcement leadership and frontline officers on liability issues such as the use of force, day-to-day operational matters, and the challenges posed by First Amendment auditors and other constitutional activists. To address the latter topic, Scott developed a training class, “Dangerous Crossroads Ahead: The Intersection of the First and Fourth Amendments.” Since 2016, Scott has presented this training to law enforcement and risk management audiences across the country.

Scott earned a Juris Doctor from Loyola Marymount University, where he was named to the Dean’s List and participated in the Moot Court Honors Program. He also holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California.

He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Legal Officers’ Section and was voted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).