Robert G. Samet

Robert G. Samet, of Ashcraft & Gerel’s Silver Spring office, has over 40 years of experience in personal injury cases of all types. During this time, he has secured a large number of settlements and jury verdicts for his clients, involving many millions of dollars, including a $5.4 million jury verdict that remains one of the highest medical malpractice jury verdicts in the history of Prince George’s County, Maryland. Known throughout Maryland for his legal expertise and litigation strategies, Mr. Samet has also built a significant practice in the areas of workers’ compensation, product liability, premises liability, and automobile accident litigation.

Mr. Samet is an incredibly dedicated legal advocate, approaching each case with great care, preparation, and sense of urgency to secure for his clients what they are rightfully due.

Case Highlights

Mr. Samet has litigated a number of hard-fought cases that have returned substantial verdicts and settlements to his clients.

One of the more interesting and complex was the aforementioned record-setting $5.4 million medical malpractice verdict in Prince George’s County, Maryland that Mr. Samet secured against an ob-gyn for negligence in the delivery of a baby who was born with brain damage. What makes this case so unusual, however, is what happened after the verdict when the insurance company refused to pay the full verdict amount, essentially forcing the doctor involved into bankruptcy and denying Mr. Samet’s client the amount due to them.

So, Mr. Samet proceeded to join forces with the doctor he had just successfully sued, teaming up so they could both initiate a bad faith case against the medical malpractice insurance company, Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society, a company run by doctors and created by the State of Maryland to provide insurance to doctors who have difficulty obtaining malpractice insurance.

This case was eventually decided in favor of Mr. Samet’s client, based largely on Mr. Samet’s skillful case preparation and meticulous examination of the defendant doctor and, afterward, the way he strategically planned and executed the unexpected post-trial bad faith lawsuit against the reluctant insurance carrier. Even more impressive, this bad faith settlement was the first time this insurance company was forced to pay a verdict over their policy limit.

Early Years

While in law school, Mr. Samet was recognized for his astute writing by being appointed to serve on the University of Baltimore Law Review. Immediately after his first year of law school, Mr. Samet began working for Ashcraft & Gerel as the law clerk for all of its Maryland lawyers.

While here as a young law student, he was fortunate to train under the late founding partner Martin E. Gerel, who hand selected Mr. Samet to represent the firm on the Maryland State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. During his appointment, Mr. Samet produced the Committee’s first draft of the proposed Workers’ Compensation Pattern Jury Instructions, which formed the basis of the official version of the Workers’ Compensation Civil Pattern Jury Instructions still used today.

During Mr. Samet’s final year of law school, he completed an internship with the Honorable Rita Davidson, a prominent judge on Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals. Mr. Samet graduated in the top seven percent of his graduating class at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

After Mr. Samet joined Ashcraft & Gerel full-time as a lawyer in 1977, he quickly developed an interest in the field of torts and, from the start, has litigated an assortment of medical malpractice cases, auto accidents, construction accidents, product liability, and general personal injury litigation.

He is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and various federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.

Outside the Courtroom

Mr. Samet is deeply involved in the legal profession and, among his many leadership positions, he has sat on the Maryland Association for Justice’s Board of Governors, as well as co-chaired the organization’s workers’ compensation and technology committees. Mr. Samet is particularly proud of his committee work because he sees this as culminating examples of a professional career dedicated to helping injured workers through the complexities of law.

Mr. Samet has also published articles in legal journals and taught continuing legal education courses for lawyers, as well as for business organizations seeking to familiarize themselves with workers’ rights in Maryland and their related legal responsibilities.

On a number of occasions, Mr. Samet has testified before the Maryland Legislature on proposed amendments to the workers’ compensation laws affecting workers’ rights.

Mr. Samet lives with his wife, a real estate manager, and has one son.

Education

• B.A., University of Maryland, 1973, with honors
• J.D., University of Baltimore, 1976, cum laude

Bar Admissions

• Maryland
• Washington, D.C.
• United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia
• United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit
• United States District Court, District of Maryland
• United States Supreme Court

Professional Associations

• American Association for Justice
• Montgomery County Bar Association
• Prince George’s County Bar Association
• Maryland Association for Justice
• Maryland State Bar Association
• The National Association of Distinguished Counsel

Awards & Recognitions

• Super Lawyers

Publications

• “Settling the Complex Workers’ Compensation Claim,” Maryland Workers’ Compensation Education Association (MWCEA), Convention, September, 2008
• “Maryland Workers’ Compensation – An Injured Workers’ Perspective,” National Business Institute, 1985
• “Maryland Workers’ Compensation – Tips for Practitioners,” Maryland Institute for Professional Education for Lawyers (MICPEL), Spring, 1984

Speaking Engagements

• “Employer Immunity Under The Workers’ Compensation Law – The Exclusive Remedy Doctrine And Its Progeny,” Maryland Association for Justice Trial Reporter, Spring, 2011

“Maryland and Bad Faith: Time to Complete the Circle,” Maryland Association for Justice Trial Reporter, Spring, 2000