Samiyyah focuses her practice on complex civil matters, as well as white collar defense and investigations. She has represented individuals and corporations across the country in a range of substantive areas, including securities, antitrust, products liability, white collar criminal defense, and defamation. Samiyyah also maintains an active pro bono practice and has experience representing clients in trial, appellate, and post-conviction proceedings.
Prior to joining Williams & Connolly, Samiyyah was a Deputy Associate Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, where she provided legal and strategic advice to the Biden Administration. Samiyyah previously clerked for Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Sri Srinivasan of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Judge Amul Thapar when he served as Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. After clerking, Samiyyah was an associate at a trial litigation boutique in Washington, D.C.
Samiyyah graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she served as the Executive Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and received the Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Prize for excellence in academics and character. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Samiyyah received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, where she was a Coca-Cola Scholar. After college, Samiyyah worked as a student affairs administrator and earned her Master’s Degree in Higher Education at The Ohio State University.
Publications
The Great Balancing Act: The Effect of the America Invents Act on the Division of Power Between the Patent and Trademark Office and the Federal Circuit, 69 Vand. L. Rev. 217 (2016).