Maslon Grows Investigations and Litigation Teams with Addition of Former Federal Prosecutor

Maslon is pleased to announce the addition of former federal prosecutor Samantha H. Bates to the firm’s Litigation Group, where she will specialize in government and internal investigations and complex business litigation.

Samantha joins Maslon after serving for six years as an assistant United States attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. In that position, she led successful investigations and prosecutions in a wide array of complex cases. These included racketeering conspiracies, civil rights violations, firearms trafficking, narcotics conspiracies, and violent crimes—most notably, her work on United States v. Derek Chauvin et al., which resulted in the conviction of four Minneapolis police officers for federal civil rights violations related to the death of George Floyd.

Prior to her work as an assistant U.S. attorney, Samantha prosecuted violent felonies for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School.

Samantha joins a growing investigations team at Maslon, currently staffed by several former state and federal prosecutors and experienced litigators. Led by former assistant U.S. attorney Steve Schleicher, Maslon’s Investigations & White Collar Defense Group leverages extensive government experience to represent corporations facing government inquiries, enforcement actions, and litigation. The Investigations & White Collar Defense group also uses its deep investigations experience to conduct privileged internal investigations in a variety of contexts and represents individuals facing complex criminal allegations.

Steve is known for his role as pro bono special prosecutor in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd and his successful representation of a Feeding Our Future defendant. The team also includes Stephanie Laws (co-chair of the Tort & Product Liability Group), former federal prosecutor David Suchar (chair of the Construction & Real Estate Litigation Group), former state prosecutors Emily Liebman Taylor and Haley-Rose Severson, and litigation attorneys Clayton Carlson, Anna Barton, and Abigail Maier.