Sam specialises in commercial dispute resolution and administrative law, with a particular interest in arbitration, intellectual property, insurance and judicial review.

He holds an LLB from Canterbury University and an LLM from the University of Auckland.

Sam spent 4 years in the litigation team at Ashurst Morris Crisp in London where among other work he was involved in a large-scale dispute surrounding the construction of the Docklands Light Rail, a lengthy class-action suit as part of the worldwide 'tobacco litigation', and pro-bono work for death row inmates in the Caribbean.

Sam returned to New Zealand in 2002 to sit his Master's Degree, specialising in Commercial Law, and graduated with first-class honours in 2006. He went to the independent bar in 2005, working as a junior barrister at Shortland Chambers for 2 years before becoming a member of Bankside Chambers in May 2007.

He has given talks for the Intellectual Property Society of New Zealand in Auckland and Wellington and has published articles in the Auckland University Post-Graduate Law Review and the NZ Lawyer.

Sam has considerable experience before the New Zealand courts, having appeared in hearings before the District and High Courts and as junior counsel in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He has also represented clients in mediations, arbitrations and judicially-assisted settlement conferences.