Immediately before joining LTPC, Sam clerked for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Prior to his service with Judge Wiener, Sam clerked for the Honorable Robert B. Propst and the Honorable L. Scott Coogler of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Throughout law school and before his federal clerkships, Sam worked for a nationally prominent litigation firm in Birmingham, Alabama on matters including shareholder derivative litigation, white collar criminal defense, civil forfeiture actions, and qui tam lawsuits.

Sam earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Alabama School of Law. Sam also holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University and an M.A. and B.A from the University of South Carolina. During law school, Sam was involved with a number of organizations, including serving as Editor in Chief of the Alabama Law Review.