Judge W. Scott Donaldson (ret.)

DCH Health System

Scott Donaldson was a Judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals from 2013 until retiring in 2021 and was a circuit judge from 2003-2013. Before taking office, he had an extensive trial and appellate law practice for 18 years. Donaldson was also the Chief Judge of the Court of the Judiciary (the court that adjudicates all complaints filed against Alabama judges).  He served on the Alabama State Bar Commission and State Bar Disciplinary Commission and is a current or former chair or member of numerous other judicial and legal committees including the Evidence Committee, the Civil Pattern Jury Instructions Committee, and the Appellate Rules Committee.  He has been an attorney or trial judge in approximately 180 jury trials and in hundreds of bench trials.   After retiring from the bench, Donaldson had an active mediation, arbitration, trial and appellate law practice. He is currently the General Counsel for the DCH Health System.

Donaldson is a faculty member of the National Judicial College and has taught many four-day evidence courses to hundreds of trial judges across the country.  He has also taught evidence courses for 13 state judicial associations, the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and for the judges of the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board.  He teaches evidence and trial skills courses for the Alabama Circuit/District Judges Associations including new judge orientation sessions and for the Probate Judges Association. Donaldson taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Alabama School of Law each semester from 2006-2022 and was an instructor for the 40-hour Domestic Relations/Civil mediator training course for alabamamediationtraining.com. He is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs and has authored numerous legal articles as well as the Alabama Trial Notebook, published by the University of Alabama School of Law CLE program. He is a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation and Vice-President of the Board of Directors.