Samuel W. Braver

Samuel W. Braver

For more than 32 years, Sam has represented financial institutions in state and federal courts throughout the east coast regarding complex commercial lending litigation as well as sophisticated probate and trust litigation in jury and non-jury trials. He is also very active in corporate governance and health care litigation. In addition, he represents manufacturers of various products in products liability litigation.

Sam is chair of the firm's Product Liability Practice. He has served as head of the Pittsburgh office Commercial Litigation Group and is a member of that practice group as well as practice groups in Financial Institutions and Health Care.

His defense litigation experience includes lender liability, uniform commercial code, breach of fiduciary duty claims and product liability litigation. Sam has also handled lender workout and restructuring matters in bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy forums, consumer fraud litigation (class-action and non class-action), breach of contract matters, and venture capital litigation for financial institution subsidiaries involved in venture capital funding. He has also spent a significant amount of time in Chapter 11 adversary proceedings on behalf of various financial institutions and has represented financial institutions and title insurance companies in class action litigation.

Sam represents and counsels clients in commercial litigation and has served as lead trial counsel in numerous cases which have been tried to final verdict, both jury and non-jury, regarding commercial litigation matters. He also has been involved in a significant amount of appellate work. He has a background in banking litigation including many aspects of lender liability and orphan's court litigation. He also has handled matters involving corporate governance and control matters, ERISA issues, health care issues, insurance coverage, construction litigation, litigation involving claims against accounting firm clients, product liability, breach of contract, Uniform Commercial Code, tax litigation, personal injury, and class actions (state and federal).

He also has been involved in litigation relating to various aspects of coal, oil and gas litigation encompassing diverse areas from environmental and other governmental regulations to litigation matters involving coal, oil and gas production and contracts. Sam has represented clients in the state and federal courts across Pennsylvania, as well as Florida, West Virginia, New Jersey, Indiana, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. He is licensed in Pennsylvania and Florida.

As a result of his concentration in commercial litigation and his experience and years as a trial lawyer, Sam has been elected to the Board of Governors of the Allegheny County Bar Association and is president of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County. He recently was named to a committee to study changes in Allegheny County Jury Voir Dire. He has served as a master to the American Inns of Court at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Chapter. He has served as a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy training programs and has lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and other groups as part of Pennsylvania's continuing Legal Education Program. He has been selected for the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® list by his peers since 2004.

Sam has both developed and participated in successful novel Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures designed to resolve commercial disputes outside of the typical judicial forum, which included binding and non-binding mediation and mini-trials.

Sam served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and has served as an arbitrator for federal court arbitration proceedings as well as a master in state court proceedings involving both construction and non-construction matters.

Publications & Speeches

Pittsburgh Litigation Attorney Sam Braver Featured in Law360 Q&A
August 21, 2009

40 Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Attorneys Selected to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers List
May 26, 2009

Fourteen Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Attorneys Selected to Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers List
February 20, 2009

Pittsburgh Litigation Attorney Samuel Braver Weighs in on Product Innovation
June 27, 2008

Lawyers Journal Notes Election of Sam Braver and Shelly Pagac to ACBA Board of Governors
June 9, 2008

Forty-Five Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Attorneys Selected as Pennsylvania Super Lawyers
May 28, 2008

Preparing for and Defending Accounting Liability Litigation
Accounting Policy & Practice Portfolios, BNA Tax & Accounting, Portfolio 5500
2006

Parens Patriae, The Business Judgment Rule and Not-for-profit Corporations
September 1, 2002

No Trespassing: Donors Lack Legal Standing to Challenge Corporate Acts of Florida Not-for-Profit orporations
December 2001

No Cause for Alarm: Bollard v. California Province of the Society of Jesus Does not Destroy First Amendment's "Ministerial Exception" To Civil Rights Act Allowing Churches Freedom To Choose Clergy
December 1, 1999

Affiliations

President, Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County

Pennsylvania Bar Association

Florida Bar

Board of Directors, Allegheny County Bar Association

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Judicial Merit Selection Committee and Judiciary Committee

(Also at Miami and Tampa, Florida Offices)