Scott Blake Harris

Scott Blake Harris has practiced law in Washington, D.C., in both government and the private sector, for more than forty-five years. He and has had extensive experience in communications, technology, energy, administrative, litigation, trade, and national security law.

Scott co-founded HWG in 1998 and served as its first Managing Partner until he left in 2009 to serve as General Counsel of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). He re-joined the firm in May 2014 and served as its first Chairman until May 2021. He now leads the firms energy practice and is a senior member of its communications practice.

At DOE, Mr. Harris began the first systematic enforcement of the Department’s energy efficiency regulations, coordinated that effort with the EPA’s Energy Star program, and created the Department’s enforcement office. He also reformed DOE’s rulemaking process to allow more public access and greater transparency. In addition, Scott played a key role in DOE’s efforts to tackle the legal and policy issues raised by smart grid technologies, and served as Co-Chair of the Broadband Subcommittee of the White House National Science and Technology Council.

Scott had previously served in government from 1993 to 1996 as the first Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission and as Chief Counsel for Export Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In each of these positions, he initiated major revisions of the regulatory regimes to make them more transparent, accessible, and competition-oriented.

In the private sector, in addition to his time at HWG, Scott has served as General Counsel of Neustar, Inc. and as Co-Managing Partner of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP. At Neustar, Scott was responsible for the technology company’s legal, policy, communications, corporate marketing, and corporate social responsibility functions. He has also been a partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, where he was Chair of the communications practice, and at Williams & Connolly, where began his career in private practice as a litigator.

Scott has a long history of involvement in the legal and public policy communities. He served as Chair of the FCC’s Advisory Committee for both the 2015 and 1997 World Radio Conferences, and as a member of the Department of Energy’s Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Advisory Committee. Scott has also been a member of the Advisory Board of Virginia Tech’s Center for Wireless Communications; Co-Chair of the Council on Foreign Relations Study Group on Information Technology and Foreign Policy; a Trustee of the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) Foundation and Co-Chair of the FCBA’s International, Online, Legislative, and Seminar Committees; and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law Center.

Scott has received many honors during his career. He was named as a “Visionary” and as one of the Top Ten Communications Lawyers by the Legal Times. He has been honored as a “Dean of the Bar” by, and received an award for Distinguished Service from, the Federal Communications Bar Association. He has also received awards for Outstanding Service from the National Association of State Energy Officials and for Special Achievement from the Chairman of the FCC. The National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers presented Scott with the Marconi-Bell Award for his work on unlicensed spectrum. He has been deemed an “Eminent Practitioner” by Chambers USA and is regularly ranked among the top lawyers in Washington, D.C and the nation by other trade publications and services.