MICHAEL H.SAMPSON
Michael H. Sampson is a Lynch Carpenter partner resident in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. Using the skills developed and honed during almost two decades in “big law,” Mike now fights daily for consumers and other individuals. Having spent much of his career successfully battling commercial insurance companies, Mike stands ready, willing, and able to go toe-to-toe with any large corporation or other entity that violates the rights of a consumer, employee, or other person.
After serving as Assistant Director, Legal Affairs Department at the Anti-Defamation League in New York and practicing at Bredhoff & Kaiser PLLC in Washington, D.C., Mike returned home to Pittsburgh in 2003, joining Reed Smith LLP (“Reed Smith”). At Reed Smith, Mike was a Litigation partner, a member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group, and Co-Vice Chair of the firm’s Cannabis Law Team.
In 2020, Mike moved his practice to Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl, LLC (“Leech Tishman”), where he reconstituted and led that firm’s Insurance Coverage Group and co-led its Cannabis Industry Group. Under his leadership, the Insurance Coverage Group was recognized as a top-tier practice in Pittsburgh.
Over the course of his career, Mike has recovered millions of dollars in insurance coverage (i.e., settlement and defense costs) for his clients. He has helped policyholders navigate complex matters, including disputes, involving – as just a few examples – toxic torts, hurricane damage, social-engineering fraud, and other property damage and theft.
In 2017, Mike also was part of a team that obtained what was understood to be, at least at that time, the largest bad-faith verdict against an insurance company in Pennsylvania.
Mike has extensive experience outside the insurance-coverage arena as well. For example, he has litigated other breach-of-contract, wrongful death, and bodily injury claims. In addition, a member of Leech Tishman’s Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Group, Mike handled matters that involved not just cyber insurance but also data breaches, text-message marketing, data privacy, e-commerce, and other cyber-related concerns.
Mike also has unique experience working with and representing Old Order Amish families across the United States. He has advised Amish individuals denied U.S. permanent resident status due to their religious beliefs and has litigated against the U.S. government to resolve these complicated disputes. For his pro bono work on Old Order Amish and other matters, Mike has received significant national and local media attention.
Today, continuing to appear regularly in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the country, Mike is involved in an array of complex class actions and other matters involving, for example, the imposition of impermissible fees on consumers and the violation of various state statutes, including consumer fraud/protection statutes.
Recognized by the Chicago Tribune in 2022 as a “prominent cannabis industry attorney,” Mike’s experience stretches beyond the courtroom to the classroom. Appointed an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Mike taught the law school’s “Cannabis and the Law” course, a unique, cutting-edge seminar that he designed.
Most recently, prior to joining Lynch Carpenter, Mike served as Senior Director – Legal Affairs & Risk Management (de facto general counsel) for a national insurance broker and risk management firm, advising stakeholders across its 10-plus business units.
Mike graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago Law School and from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction in Government. At Virginia, he was elected and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Cavalier Daily, the Commonwealth’s oldest collegiate newspaper.
Education
- University of Chicago Law School, Juris Doctor, 1999
- University of Virginia, Bachelor of Arts, Government, 1996
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
Key Publications
A list of Mike’s “Key Publications” is available here
Notable Speaking Engagements
A list of Mike’s “Notable Speaking Engagements” is available here
In the Press
A list of Mike’s mentions in the media is available here