Who We Are
Scott D. Macdonald, Esq., SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Managing Director
Scott Macdonald has been practicing labor relations and employment law since 1987, and human resource management since 1997. He brings substantive knowledge and expertise in human resource management in both the private and the public sector.
Since 2005, Scott has run his human resource management consulting practice based out of Middletown. Prior to that, Scott served as the Director of Human Resources and In-House Labor/Employment Counsel for two of the largest school districts in Connecticut from 1997-2005. He was an Attorney in the Labor/Employment Litigation departments for Shipman & Goodwin and Pepe & Hazard in Connecticut from 1993-1997, and an Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in the Appellate Court Branch in Enforcement Litigation as well as the Injunction Litigation Branch in Washington, D.C. for five years before moving to Connecticut.
Scott holds a Juris Doctor degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was an Articles Editor on the North Carolina Law Review. He obtained a B.A. with Honors in Political Science and Philosophy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was Phi Beta Kappa. In 2003, Scott earned his Senior Professional in Human Resource Management Certification from the Society for Human Resource Management. He served as Chair of the Government Affairs Committee for SHRM’s Connecticut State Council from 2008-2011, serves on the Executive Board of the Connecticut Association of School Personnel Administrators, and is a member of the Connecticut State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section.
Thomas Lally
Tom Lally has been working in the personnel field as a public school administrator and consultant since 1993. He is the founder and Managing Partner of The McMahon Ryan Group, a employee benefits brokerage firm. He serves as a Senior Advisor to Macdonald & Associates. Tom started his career working as a program coordinator for Russell Sage College, Junior College of Albany division, correctional educational program and then as the Multicultural Program Coordinator. Tom later became a school counselor working with at-risk high school students. Moving into public school building leadership, Tom elevated to Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Personnel and was an adjunct Professor at Binghamton University in the Masters of Arts Teaching program.
Tom joined the employee benefits consulting field in 2011 and has since immersed himself in the field: participating in collective bargaining negotiations, broker relationships, plan design analysis, and budget projections. His experience and understanding of employee evaluation, collective bargaining agreements, and teaching have been invaluable working with both employers and employees.
Tom holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany, an M.S. in School Counseling from Sage Graduate School, and an M.S. in Education administration and Policy Studies from the University at Albany.