Mr. Samson has thirty years experience in all aspects of general litigation. He is Chair of the San Francisco office Litigation Department and is regularly brought into cases in order to try them. He has been lead trial counsel in over thirty-five cases that were tried to a verdict, including both bench and jury trials as well as protracted and complex administrative proceedings. He has represented clients in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Kansas, as well as California, in matters involving commercial disputes, direct and inverse condemnation, real estate, insurance bad faith, land use, government contracts, labor and employment, and administrative law.
Mr. Samson’s practice emphasizes all aspects of litigation and trial across a broad range of subject areas. For example, he won a nine-week eminent domain jury trial resulting in an award of $27.5 million, more than double what had been offered. He also won a defense verdict in an 11-week breach of contract jury trial that was named as one of the Daily Journal's top 10 defense verdicts of 2003.
Most recently, after a three-week bench trial, he won a defense verdict in a real estate breach of contract case resulting in the return of our client's security deposit and the award of all of the client's $2.4 million in attorneys' fees. He also obtained a $19 million judgment on behalf of three Haitian women in a pro bono human rights case for which he was named a 2007 California Lawyer of the Year.
Mr. Samson has a history of involvement in community affairs. He has been elected to the Lafayette City Council three times where he has served as Mayor and Vice Mayor. Previously, he was appointed to the Lafayette Planning Commission, and also served as President of the Lafayette Homeowners’ Council. He was named as Lafayette's 2007 Citizen of the Year. Additionally, Mr. Samson also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at John F. Kennedy University Law School and is a member of the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court.