Samy is known for his ability to investigate and discover information that oftentimes goes unearthed. His doggedness and determination were honed at the Federal Public Defender’s Office, where he worked early in his career to defend individuals against prosecutions charging virtually every violation under the Federal Criminal Code.

Samy now brings that same attitude and versatility to representing white-collar individuals and businesses that find themselves interacting with the government. In a nutshell, Samy helps those who need it – not because they are necessarily “guilty” – but because the government has suddenly become a part of their lives. This is true whether an individual receives an unexpected “target letter,” or a company is served with a federal grand jury subpoena demanding its business records. Whether on behalf of an individual or a company, Samy’s approach remains the same: provide top-flight, individualized, and creative legal services to solve the client’s problem.

Career Evolution

After law school, Samy worked at the Fair Trial Initiative, where he focused on death penalty litigation in North Carolina. He then returned to his hometown of Houston and worked for seven years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Southern District of Texas. In 2010 Samy went into private practice, joining the firm of GERGER & CLARKE and later the prestigious international law firm of QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN LLP. Before launching his own office, Samy worked as a partner at HUGHES ARRELL KINCHEN LLP and GERGER KHALIL HENNESSY & MCFARLANE LLP.

Education

University of Texas School of Law - JD, 2002 (Member, Texas Law Review)
University of Chicago - MA, International Relations, with honors, 1999
Middlebury College - BA, Political Science, with honors, 1996

Awards

Samy has been recognized:

“Chambers & Partners” - “Band 3” for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2020-2022)
“Chambers & Partners” - “Up and Coming” for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (2018)
As a “Super Lawyer” (2017-2022) and “Rising Star” (2013-2014) in White-Collar Criminal Defense
In “Best Lawyers in America” for White-Collar Criminal Defense (2016-2021)

He is:

A member of the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association
A Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation
A board member of the Texas Defender Service

He was:

Selected by a Fifth Circuit Judge to serve on the Federal Public Defender Appointment Committee for the Southern District of Texas (2019-2020)
Chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Houston Bar Association (2018)
Appointed by the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Texas to chair the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel (2017)

Presentations & Publications

Samy has given presentations on white-collar crime, particular federal offenses, and various aspects of federal sentencing.
In May 2021, he moderated a panel on “Federal Discovery” with two federal magistrate judges.
He served on the Federal Bench Bar Committee, which organizes the bi-annual bench-bar conference in the Southern District of Texas (2019).
He presented on the US Dept. of Justice’s “Yates Memo” at the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers’ “White-Collar Conference” (2016).
He published “Doing the Impossible: Appellate Reweighing of Harm and Mitigation in Capital Cases After Williams v. Taylor, With a Special Focus on Texas,” Texas Law Review (2001).

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