[1] Scudder received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Saint Joseph's College as co-valedictorian, and his Juris Doctor in 1998 magna cum laude from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

[2][3] Scudder worked as an auditor for Ernst and Young before attending law school and is a Certified Public Accountant.

[6] On February 12, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Scudder to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

President Trump nominated Scudder to the seat vacated by Judge Richard Posner, who retired on September 2, 2017.

[14] Scudder once served as vice chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Chicago.