Gregory

Sam is a member of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation group. He brings experience in a broad range of construction law, business litigation and appellate matters. Sam regularly advises clients on front-end issues, such as contract drafting and licensing requirements; litigates and arbitrates a variety of construction, commercial, and premises liability disputes; and handles all levels of appeals from administrative agencies to state Supreme Courts and the Fifth and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals.    

• Commercial Litigation
• Construction & Building Products Litigation

Construction

• Represented a program manager in a $50 million complex construction dispute involving multiple parties.
• Represented poultry integrator in putative nationwide class actions alleging antitrust violations. 
• Represented a chemical manufacturer in multiple environmental contamination suits brought by more than 500 plaintiffs. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi granted a Lone Pine order requiring all plaintiffs to test their property before litigation could resume.
• Obtained jury trial defense verdict on behalf of a trustee in a complex case involving bond issuance and failed development.
• Obtained bench trial defense verdict on behalf of national bank in lawsuit alleging wrongful foreclosure based upon allegedly forged documents.
• Represented beneficiaries in a lawsuit that resulted in the appointment of new trustees and ultimate buyout of multi-million dollar trusts.
• Represented a water treatment company in a lawsuit stemming from plaintiffs contracting Legionnaire's Disease. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi granted two Daubert motions and granted summary judgment in favor of the water treatment company. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed after oral argument.
• Successfully appealed the dismissal of a construction company's auditing malpractice lawsuit, with the Mississippi Supreme Court reversing and remanding for trial.
• Obtained dismissal of a products liability class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against a product manufacturer. Class plaintiffs attempted to file second complaint, which was also dismissed on res judicata grounds.
• Obtained dismissal for a bank in a lawsuit alleging wrongful foreclosure and violation of the Bankruptcy Code's automatic stay.
• Represented a licensee defendant in a putative class action by former collegiate athletes claiming a right to individually license their names, images and likenesses (NIL) for use in sports broadcasts and seeking damages for prior uses of same. The U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted a Rule 12 Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal after oral argument.
• Achieved numerous commercial eviction orders in bench trials on behalf of real estate firms.
• Defended an engineering group in a federal lawsuit by a contractor alleging faulty design and administration of a project to construct a transit shed. Successfully settled the lawsuit on favorable terms.

• Best Lawyers in America®
  • Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2025
  • Ones to Watch, Construction Law, 2021-2025
  • Ones to Watch, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, 2021-2025
  • Ones to Watch, Appellate Practice, 2023-2025
• Super Lawyers®
  • Mid-South Rising Star, 2016-2023
• Jackson Young Lawyers, Outstanding Service Award, 2015

• Mississippi, 2013
• U.S. District Courts
• Mississippi: Northern, Southern
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• 5th Circuit
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi

• Mississippi College School of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, 2013
  • First in class
  • Articles Editor, Law Review
  • Chair, Moot Court Board
• Mississippi College, M.B.A., 2013
  • Dual-enrolled JD/MBA program
• Mississippi College, B.S., Business Administration, summa cum laude, 2010
  • VP Student Government

• American Bar Association
  • Forum on Construction Law
    • Steering Committee, Young Lawyers Division
    • Division 9: Subcontractors & Suppliers
• Associated Builders & Contractors
  • Mississippi Chapter
    • Young Professionals Executive Committee
• Mississippi Bar Association
  • Young Lawyers Division
    • Director
  • Appellate Practice Section
    • Chair
  • Business Law Section
    • Executive Committee
• Charles Clark American Inn of Court
  • Barrister
• Capital Area Bar Association

• Co-Author, Contracts Chapter, Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law (eds. 2015 – 2022).
• Speaker, "Contract Law Primer for Engineers," Mississippi Engineering Law and Ethics Webinar, March 2022.
• Author, "Federal Court Affirms Ebola Case: What Does it Mean for Projects Impacted by COVID-19?," June 14, 2021.
• Speaker, "Mississippi's Construction Lien Law: Recent Developments and How a Case in Georgia Could Affect Mississippi Lien Claimants," June 3, 2021.
• Speaker, "Division 9 Hot Topic Call: Triggering Bond and Lien Deadlines," Webinar, April 2021.
• Author, "How Dismissal of an Involuntary Plaintiff Can Affect the Deadline to Appeal a Prior Order Dismissing all Defendants," The Mississippi Lawyer, Vol. LXVI, No. 2 at pp.50-56, Winter 2020.
• Author, "My Project Has Been Impacted by Covid-19: What are my rights for time extension, termination, and damages?," Under Construction, Summer 2020.
• Author, "The Department of Homeland Security Issues Additional Guidance on Who is an 'Essential' Construction Worker," April 7, 2020.
• Co-Author, "Coronavirus: Construction Industry Impacts," March 18, 2020; republished in New Orleans City Business, March 19, 2020.
• Speaker, "Division 9 Hot Topic Call: COVID-19 IS COMING: Are Your Clients Ready?," Webinar,  March 2020.
• Author, "What is the 'Last' 'Work,' 'Labor,' and 'Materials' that Triggers Bond and Lien Filing Deadlines?," Under Construction, Summer 2019.
• Co-Author, "A Decade Examined: A Review of the Recovery Under Mississippi's Civil Justice Reforms," 34 Mississippi College Law Review 203 (2015).
• Contributing Author, "Statutory Damage Caps: Analysis of the Scope of Right to Jury Trial and the Constitutionality of Mississippi Statutory Caps on Noneconomic Damages," 32 Mississippi College Law Review 109 (2013).