Sam Meehan’s experience spans all phases of litigation, including managing and conducting discovery, mediation and arbitration, as well as extensive motion practice. His practice focuses on defending corporate and individual clients in government enforcement investigations, white collar criminal matters, and complex commercial litigation. He has represented clients in connection with investigations and enforcement actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Sam maintains an active pro bono practice: recently he successfully defended a young trans athlete who had been illegally barred from competing in national championship competition due to her gender identity and also gave the closing argument in a federal civil rights trial involving a police shooting.
Sam has thorough experience drafting—and winning—dispositive motions in state and federal court. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Sam and the Waymaker team won a motion for summary adjudication for clients who had signed a lease to start a restaurant in March 2020. Because of this victory, the clients were able to recoup all of their losses from the landlord and received a settlement payment to cover their attorneys’ fees. In the summer of 2023, Sam was instrumental in a trial victory that saw Waymaker secure a seven-figure damages award and permanent injunction in favor of a client medical device manufacturer whose trade secrets had been misappropriated by a competitor. Sam recently defended a real estate agent against fraud claims in an arbitration and secured a six-figure attorneys’ fees award for the client. Sam has been named a Southern California Rising Star by Super Lawyers in both 2023 and 2024.
Prior to joining Waymaker, Sam advised some of the nation’s largest union pension and health funds on ERISA and related matters. He also completed a post-bar fellowship with the Santa Clara County District Attorney, where he worked in the gangs unit and made multiple court appearances prosecuting members of a notorious international gang involved in methamphetamine distribution.
Sam received his law degree from the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, where he received the USC Law Merit Scholarship. During law school, he externed in the Sex Crimes Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. Before attending law school, he worked as a researcher for Ocean Champions, a non-profit ocean conservancy group.