Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
JANUARY 30, 2019 – Two Davis Wright Tremaine LLP partners have been recognized in the Los Angeles Business Journal as among the city’s Most Influential Minority Attorneys. They are Nancy Clapp, a partner in the real estate group, and Scott Commerson, a partner in the litigation group.
Nancy’s practice centers on affordable housing lending, advising commercial banks and other lending institutions in providing construction and permanent financing for tax credit-supported affordable housing projects. She closes approximately 20 such transactions each year.
Last year, she was instrumental in the financing of a $46 million mixed-use affordable housing development in Seattle, funded in part by a grant from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The complex will house 94 families and include a day resource center that will offer after-school programs, assistance in finding child care, and many other services that are intended to divert people from homelessness.
Her clients include Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, MUFG Union Bank, and California Community Reinvestment Corp., a nonprofit lending institution that provides permanent financing for affordable housing projects.
“Living in Los Angeles and seeing the tent communities grow and housing costs continue to rise, I’m proud to be a part of a professional community that strives to address some of these issues,” said Nancy.
Nancy was instrumental in bringing DWT’s 1L Diversity Scholarship program to the firm’s Los Angeles office. She also serves as an engaged mentor for the scholarship recipients, often reviewing their project evaluations and ensuring they are not only supported during their time at the firm but also given the tools to succeed wherever their career may take them.
Nancy has a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law.
Scott has a diverse litigation practice focused on prosecuting and defending trademark infringement, false advertising, and trade secret misappropriation claims in state and federal courts and in arbitration tribunals across the country. He also regularly defends companies in class actions brought under California’s consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
Some of Scott’s recent victories include obtaining a preliminary injunction on behalf of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences enjoining the auction of Whitney Houston’s Emmy® statuette; obtaining summary judgment on claims that the use of the IPANEMA trademark for sandals by a Brazilian multinational footwear manufacturer infringed the plaintiff’s use of the IPANEMA trademark for swimwear; defeating class certification for Spotify in an action alleging violation of California’s Automatic Renewal Law; and obtaining dismissal of all claims before hearing and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees in defense of an action brought by a corporation’s former president alleging breach of a stock purchase agreement.
Scott serves as a co-chair of Davis Wright Tremaine’s LGBTQ Attorney Affinity Group and spearheaded an LGBTQ mentoring program at the firm that pairs LGBTQ associates and partners across offices and practice groups. He also represents a number of clients focused on the LGBTQ market. For example, he recently obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on behalf of a leading LGBTQ travel company enjoining its former employees from using the client’s proprietary lists for their competing business.
Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers has recognized Scott as a “Southern California Rising Star” each of the past four years. He received his B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. at University of Virginia Law School.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a national law firm with more than 550 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.