Scott Finelli

After moving with his parents from Oceanside, New York in 1980, Scott spent the better part of the last 30 years in Pasco County, attending Calusa Elementary, Bayonet Point Middle, and Ridgewood High School. After earning an Associate in Arts degree from PHCC in 1993 and a BA in history from USF in 1995, Scott was hired to teach drop-out prevention at his alma mater, Bayonet Point Middle, in 1998.

Scott spent five very fulfilling years teaching 8th grade American History and 7th grade Geography before a former colleague convinced him to try his hand teaching high school. Beginning in 2003, Scott taught American History, American History Honors, and Law Studies for 4 years at Mitchell High School until he decided to pursue the other half of a dream not yet fulfilled—becoming a lawyer. After being accepted to Florida Coastal School of Law, Scott began his legal training in the Fall of 2007. During law school, Scott was a teaching assistant in the legal writing department, interned for the Honorable Daniel Wilensky of the 4th Judicial Circuit, and was a Dean’s List Scholar. After law school, Scott took and passed the Florida Bar exam the July following graduation.

In February of 2011, he was selected as part of a public interest law grant offered by Florida Coastal, and was hired as an associate with Bay Area Legal Services Inc., a no-cost legal services firm that represents indigent clients. This six month grant gave Scott the valuable opportunity to pursue injunctions for victims of domestic violence on behalf of Bay Area Legal clients. Scott was recognized for his advocacy of domestic violence victims by the Salvation Army’s Domestic Violence Program, earning the “advocate of the year” award by the program. At the conclusion of the grant program, Scott worked as an associate at a local law firm before joining Kemp Law.