Scola earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from Brown University and a Juris Doctor in 1980 from Boston College School of Law.

[3] In 1995, Scola became a judge on Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit presiding over criminal, civil and family law matters.

Scola would fill the seat vacated by Judge Paul Huck, who took senior status in August 2010.

[5] The United States Senate confirmed Scola in a voice vote on October 19, 2011; he received his commission the following day.

[4] On April 29, 2019, Scola, a cancer survivor, recused himself from a case against healthcare insurance company United Healthcare, stating, that the company's denial of treatment was "immoral and barbaric" and that his opinions regarding would prevent him from "deciding this case fairly and impartially.