David Samuels

Attorney

David Samuels

Attorney

David is a tenacious, focused litigator with a proven track record of successfully litigating complex environmental cases. As an Assistant Attorney General, he gained exceptional expertise in environmental law and built a reputation for well-honed research and writing. A savvy diplomat in and outside the courtroom, David is particularly skilled at negotiation and working collaboratively to maximize outcomes for his clients.

  • Overview
  • Representative Cases
  • Experience
  • Recognitions
  • Professional Activities
  • News
  • Publications

David is a tenacious, focused litigator with a proven track record of successfully litigating complex environmental cases. As an Assistant Attorney General, he gained exceptional expertise in environmental law and built a reputation for well-honed research and writing. A savvy diplomat in and outside the courtroom, David is particularly skilled at negotiation and working collaboratively to maximize outcomes for his clients.

Education

  • Tulane University Law School, J.D., cum laude, Environmental Law Certificate, 2014
  • Purdue University, B.S., B.A., 2008

Practice Areas

Admitted

  • Oregon
  • U.S. District Court, Oregon
  • Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
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David Samuels
David Samuels Attorney
Legal Assistant
Angie Milligan503-542-3108|
Recognized by
Best Lawyers®

David is a tenacious, focused litigator with a proven track record of successfully litigating complex environmental cases. As an Assistant Attorney General, he gained exceptional expertise in environmental law and built a reputation for well-honed research and writing. A savvy diplomat in and outside the courtroom, David is particularly skilled at negotiation and working collaboratively to maximize outcomes for his clients.

Representative Cases

Achieved favorable settlement for the State of Illinois in a joint enforcement with U.S. EPA against a subsidiary of the country’s largest petroleum refiner

Won summary judgment against the operator of one of the largest asbestos-contaminated sites in Illinois

Successfully struck twenty affirmative defenses in groundbreaking natural-resource-damage recovery action

Led multi-agency, multi-forum enforcement of Illinois’s biggest oil and gas violator

Defended Illinois EPA permitting decisions before the Illinois Pollution Control Board

Experience

Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Illinois Attorney General (2015-2019)

Recognitions

Senior Managing Editor, Tulane Environmental Law Journal

Professional Activities

CLE: Emerging Issues under the Clean Water Act (Illinois Bar Association (2019)

Publications

Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. City of Baton Rouge: Fifth Circuit Rules Clean Water Act’s Diligent-Prosecution Bar to Citizen Suits is Nonjurisdictional, 26 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 111 (2012)

Precluding Preclusion: A Proposal for a New Way of Addressing Citizen Suit Overfiling, 26 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 259 (2013)

Recent Development: Fla. Wildlife Fed’n v. McCarthy, 27 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 421 (2014)