Prominent Business Litigator Charles H. Samel Joins Stoel Rives

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that experienced commercial and antitrust litigator Chuck Samel has joined the firm as a partner. Samel will split his time between Southern California and San Francisco with a focus on representing high-technology companies.

“Despite these challenging times, we recognize there will be opportunities to grow our ranks with exceptional lawyers who embrace our culture and advance our strategic vision,” said Melissa Jones, Stoel Rives’ Firmwide Managing Partner. “Not surprisingly, our partners were enthusiastic about inviting Chuck into the partnership.”

“Chuck is a great addition to our commercial litigation and antitrust practices in California and nationally,” said Brian Nese, managing partner of Stoel Rives’ California offices. “His reputation for client service, integrity, professional excellence, and collegiality precedes him.”

“Chuck is known as a go-to litigator for corporations facing antitrust class actions and all types of complex business disputes,” said Maren Norton, chair of Stoel Rives’ Litigation Group. “Chuck inspires trust and confidence in his clients, and importantly, he shares our firm’s commitment to the development, retention, and promotion of women and underrepresented minority lawyers.”

Samel said he was attracted to Stoel Rives because the firm is widely respected for its strong leadership, reputation for excellence, and culture of inclusion, integrity, and mutual trust and respect. The firm’s conservative financial management also was a major draw, he said, noting that while most other major law firms are burdened by growing fixed costs and expanding overhead, Stoel Rives has been more prudent, and, consequently, is able to pass on those cost savings directly to clients.

“The firm’s financial model is an outlier; it is remarkable to me how Stoel Rives accumulated such a depth of talent, and breadth of industry experience, while maintaining the discipline to control its costs,” said Samel. “Obviously, it’s a win-win when clients can maintain or increase the quality of the legal services they receive, while reducing their spend, especially now in 2020, and for the foreseeable future, while their business economics remain under pressure.”

Samel is a member of the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Section of Litigation, and a past committee chair of the American Bar Association Litigation Section. He has been recognized by Chambers & Partners USA and is listed among The Best Lawyers in America.

Before joining Stoel Rives, Samel was a litigation and antitrust partner with Perkins Coie LLP, Latham & Watkins, LLP, and Howrey LLP. He received his law degree cum laude from Georgetown University, and was graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in government and politics.