Scott G. Bullock
President & General Counsel, Institute for Justice
Scott Bullock joined the Institute for Justice at its founding in 1991. In January 2016, he became its second President and General Counsel. IJ pursues strategic public interest litigation that combines courtroom advocacy with award-winning media relations, activism, and strategic research to secure constitutional protection for individual rights. Before becoming president, he served as a senior attorney and litigated a wide variety of constitutional challenges in federal and state courts. In the property rights area, Mr. Bullock was involved in many cases challenging the use of eminent domain for private development. He argued the historic case, Kelo v. City of New London, one of the most controversial and widely discussed U.S. Supreme Court decisions in decades. Mr. Bullock also founded and directed the Institute’s initiative against civil forfeiture, a nationwide effort to challenge the ability of governments to take property from owners without a criminal conviction. Mr. Bullock’s articles and views on constitutional litigation have appeared in a wide variety of media. He has published articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and he has appeared on 60 Minutes, ABC Nightly News, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and National Public Radio, among many other publications and broadcasts. His volunteer activities have included serving on the boards of HR-57, a Washington, D.C.-based music and cultural center dedicated to the promotion of jazz and a national forfeiture reform organization. Mr. Bullock was born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his B.A. in economics and philosophy from Grove City College.