Samantha Gillespie

Samantha Gillespie is an associate in our New York office.  Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and government and internal investigations, with particular expertise in cross-border disputes.

Samantha, who is fluent in Spanish, is a member of the firm’s Latin America Practice.  She routinely handles litigations and investigations that involve Latin America or the Spanish language, including managing disputes partially or wholly in Spanish.  In recognition of her accomplishments in cases relating to Latin America, Samantha was named a 2022 “Latin America Rising Legal Star” by Latinvex.  

Samantha has significant experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes civil litigations and arbitrations.  She has handled a wide variety of litigation – including fraud, civil claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), securities litigation, contractual disputes, defamation, and intellectual property disputes – in federal and state courts across the United States, as well as in arbitral forums such as the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 

Samantha frequently represents clients at trial, including in both civil and criminal trials.  Most recently, she second-chaired a nine-figure dispute including claims under both U.S. and Colombian law in the Southern District of New York.  

In white-collar matters, Samantha has represented companies, boards of directors, and individuals in government and internal investigations across multiple continents and sectors, including the financial services, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, government and non-governmental, and gaming sectors.  She has defended clients against a broad range of allegations, including those relating to corruption (involving both the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-bribery regimes), money laundering, racketeering, wire and bank fraud, insider trading, sanctions evasion, and BSA/AML violations, among others.  She has also represented clients in whistleblower cases and extradition proceedings.

Samantha received her law degree magna cum laude from New York University School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif (the national honor society for law school graduates). Prior to attending law school, she worked as a white-collar analyst in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office where she managed large-scale, cross-border government investigations, including into U.S. and international sanctions evasion and tax evasion.  She also helped establish the District Attorney’s Office’s first Conviction Integrity Program to re-examine closed cases involving claims of innocence and establish procedures to prevent wrongful convictions in new cases.