Sam advises founders, boards of directors, startup/venture-backed and mature companies and investors in a broad set of transactions, including early- and late-stage equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, strategic joint ventures and corporate governance and board members.
Chambers USA consistently ranks Sam among the leading lawyers for startups and emerging companies. In 2020, The Legal 500 also highlighted him among the United States’ leading lawyers for venture capital and emerging companies work. Sam was also honored on TechCrunch’s inaugural list of top startup lawyers in 2019.
Sam sits on the advisory board of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley and guest lectures for their Decode startup success class. He also frequently lectures at the Haas School of Business and the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Sam is active with the entrepreneurial community, serving as a mentor for StartX, a 1,200+ community of serial entrepreneurs and tenured Stanford professors. Sam is also a mentor for LAUNCH, a startup accelerator focused on advising founders from early-stage companies.
Prior to joining Fenwick, Sam practiced commercial lending law. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Sam was a co-founder and the chief executive officer of Design Look Publications, a publisher of fine art calendars and other published gift products.
“Sam is one of the most trusted partners that I have ever had and one of the most important people to Airbnb’s early history.”
J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Executive Articles Editor of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review
B.A., Law and Society
University of California, Santa Barbara
Admitted to practice in California
Member of The Bar Association of San Francisco and the American Bar Association
“Sam is exceptional in every respect. [He is] extremely knowledgeable and competent, great instincts, very collaborative, overall top notch. Over the past 20 years, I have worked with great lawyers from leading firms, and Sam is one of the very best.”
