Robert G. Samet is a Senior Partner with Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP. He was born in Orangeburg, New York. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Maryland, graduating in 1973 with honors. He attended the University of Baltimore School of Law from 1973 to 1976, where he received his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude. During his time in law school, he competed for and earned a position on the staff of the University of Baltimore Law Review. He also completed an internship under the Honorable Rita Davidson (now deceased), then on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, but who shortly thereafter was elevated to the Maryland Court of Appeals, Maryland’s highest court.

During his final year of law school, while clerking for Ashcraft & Gerel, Mr. Samet, along with Martin E. Gerel, represented Ashcraft & Gerel in consulting with the Maryland State Bar Association, Standing Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. Mr. Samet produced the first draft of the proposed Workers’ Compensation Pattern Jury Instructions, and it formed the basis of the final version of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Maryland Civil Pattern Jury Instructions, still in use today, some 35 years later.

After law school, Mr. Samet was admitted to the Maryland State Bar in 1976, the District of Columbia Bar in 1977, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in 1977, the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in 1981 and the United States Supreme Court in 1985. Mr. Samet is a member of the District of Columbia, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Maryland State Bar Associations as well as the American Association for Justice and the Maryland Association for Justice.   His past service for the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association included a period as Assistant Chairman of the Technology Committee.  He is presently a member of the Board of Governors of the Maryland Association for Justice and serves as co-chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section. Mr. Samet was also a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts and a member of the Heuisler Honor Society, both of which were earned through academic achievement during his legal training.

Over the years of his practice of law Mr. Samet has taught continuing legal education courses for lawyers as well as for business organizations seeking to familiarize themselves with workers’ rights in Maryland as well as their responsibilities under the law. In June 2006, the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Education Association invited Mr. Samet to speak at its annual convention in Ocean City, Maryland, attended by individuals and groups involved in both the claim and defense of workers’ compensation cases throughout the State of Maryland. Moreover, Mr. Samet has published articles in legal journals on various topics in the law, including bad faith litigation against insurance companies as well as immunities under the Workers’ Compensation Law of Maryland.

Outside of the Workers’ Compensation field, Mr. Samet is responsible for achieving one of the highest medical malpractice jury verdicts ($5.4 million) in the history of Prince George’s County, Maryland as well as a large number of jury verdicts and settlements totaling many millions of dollars. Mr. Samet served as the moderator of the Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Law Forum of the Lexis-Nexis Group’s online bulletin board service called The Loop. Mr. Samet has appeared on the Ashcraft & Gerel Legal Hour radio show, airing on WJFK and WHFS, taking and answering calls on Maryland Workers’ Compensation, medical malpractice litigation and motor vehicle accident litigation. He has been selected by Super Lawyer magazine as among the top 5% of attorneys practicing workers’ compensation law in both Maryland and the District of Columbia and has been named as a member of the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America. Mr. Samet was named by the American Trial Lawyers’ Association to the top 100 trial lawyers in Maryland for the year 2007.

Mr. Samet joined Ashcraft & Gerel in 1977, following 3 years as a law clerk for the firm. He concentrates his practice on medical malpractice litigation, workers’ compensation, automobile tort litigation, product liability litigation and civil negligence litigation.  Mr. Samet has testified in front of the Maryland Legislature many times over the years. Most recently, he met with representatives of both chambers of the Maryland Legislature and provided testimony to the Finance Committee of the House of Delegates in Annapolis on a proposed law that would prevent insurance companies from unilaterally terminating an injured workers weekly compensation benefits based solely on the medical report of their chosen doctor.

Contact information:

Rockville Office
One Central Plaza
Suite 1002
11300 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: (301) 770-3737
Fax: (301) 881-6132