Nine Spertus Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers
- Firm News
Samuel A. JosephsPartner
Contact Information
- Phone(213) 205-6520
- Fax(213) 205-6521
- Emailsjosephs@spertuslaw.com
- LocationDowntown LA
Social Networks
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center
Juris Doctor
Order of the Coif
magna cum laude - Columbia University
Bachelor of Arts
Clerkships
- Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - Honorable William H. Pauley III
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Practice Areas
Admissions
- California
- New York
Sam Josephs is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who focuses on white-collar criminal matters and government enforcement actions, as well as complex civil litigation and administrative matters. In 2023, Sam was recognized by the Daily Journal in its list of Top White-Collar Lawyers. Sam has achieved remarkable results for his clients, both before and after trial, including an acquittal on all charges following an eight-week jury trial on behalf of a Fox Sports executive charged in the FIFA bribery case in the Eastern District of New York. Sam has successfully represented clients in hundreds of federal and state criminal cases and argued numerous appeals in the Ninth Circuit. Prior to joining private practice, Sam spent four and a half years as a Trial Deputy with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California.
Sam has also developed an expertise representing college students facing university-led investigations and disciplinary actions. When the college admissions scandal broke in March 2019, Sam successfully helped a number of students and their families avoid expulsion and the filing of criminal charges.
Sam earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, and graduated in the top five of his class. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University, where he was a member of the Men's Tennis team.
After graduating from law school, Sam clerked for the Honorable William H. Pauley, III, in the Southern District of New York, and the Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. During law school, he also worked as a summer associate in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Sam serves as Co-Chair of the Lawyer Representatives for the Central District of California and is on the Board of Directors for the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law. He is admitted to both the California and New York state bars.
Highlights
- Trial counsel for a former Fox Sports executive acquitted of all charges in the FIFA bribery prosecution brought in the Eastern District of New York.
- Secured dismissal of all charges in a case touted by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office as the largest healthcare fraud case ever filed in the history of the state, alleging losses in excess of $135 million.
- Represented a physician charged with violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute in a two-week long federal trial.
- Obtained pre-trial dismissal of high-profile state criminal case brought against a nursing home’s Director of Nursing, due to prosecutorial misconduct by the California Attorney General’s Office.
- Represented a physician-owner of a medical management company against charges of healthcare fraud. Negotiated a resolution that lowered the loss amount from more than $7.5 million to approximately $750,000, resulting in a significantly reduced sentence and restitution order. Following resolution of the criminal case, successfully avoided the filing by the government of a civil False Claims Act case, after which the government returned more than $3 million of funds that had been seized from the client.
- Obtained a declination to prosecute on behalf of two separate government targets facing criminal charges under the Federal Meat Inspection Act.
- Represented multiple students and their families facing expulsion by university and criminal charges by the government stemming from the college admissions scandal cases, successfully avoiding both of those potential outcomes.
- Secured stay of suspension, followed by complete reversal of four-year suspension for a university student falsely accused of sexual misconduct.
- Represented college student and his family in a federal lawsuit brought under Title IX against a major university that resulted in a favorable settlement.
- Prevailed in Ninth Circuit appeal, obtaining reversal of multiple counts of conviction for client serving thirty-year federal prison sentence after being convicted at trial of “using fire” to commit a federal felony.
- Lead trial lawyer in more than a dozen federal criminal trials.
- Recognized by Super Lawyers, 2017-2023.
- Recognized by U.S. News Best Lawyers, 2019-2023.
- Serves as a Lawyer Representative for the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.