Brown, Goldstein & Levy is proud to welcome Samantha Westrum as a new attorney. Her practice consists of cases involving civil rights – including disability rights, LGBTQ+ rights, prisoners’ rights, police misconduct, and housing discrimination – and child sexual abuse.
Samantha is passionate about her legal advocacy and continues to use her experience to work toward making the world a better place for the next generation. As a law school student at the University of Texas School of Law, she served as a Pro Bono Scholar, organizing special education law clinics in the Austin community for families of students with disabilities and helping them better understand their rights in special education proceedings.
She was also an Associate Editor of the Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, which published her student note: “Juvenile Injustice: Protecting Children of Color with Disabilities from Arrest Inside and Outside of Schools.”
When Sam worked as a student attorney with the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Housing Division, she successfully negotiated with a landlord to stop eviction proceedings against her client and won a stay of another client’s eviction. Sam’s internships included opportunities with Disability Rights Texas, the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Justice, and the ACLU Disability Rights Program, all of which fueled her passion for justice at the intersection of disability rights and criminal legal reform.
Prior to joining the firm, Sam was a Stew Dunn Legal Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. As a Fellow, she litigated cases that defended the rights of incarcerated individuals, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those seeking reproductive care. Her role in these cases included arguing in federal and state court, leading discovery, and negotiating settlements.
Sam listens to clients with compassion–honoring their unique backgrounds and identities and building trust in her advocacy. In doing so, she lets clients’ stories be heard in a way that is authentic to them.
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.