Wes Samples is Of Counsel in Quinn Emanuel’s San Francisco office. Wes is a trial lawyer focused on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation in the federal courts. Prior to rejoining the firm in early 2025, Wes served for five years as a Civil Division Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California, where he successfully tried cases defending the United States of America and represented federal agencies in a wide variety of complex civil litigation. Before becoming an AUSA, Wes was a patent litigator representing both technology and pharmaceutical companies in cases involving biomedical assays, small molecule drugs, data compression, video codecs, encryption, and electrochemistry.
Wes brings strategic insights gained while clerking in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for the Honorable John D. Love. Wes also leverages his prior experience licensing and commercializing biotechnology and medical device innovations at the Cleveland Clinic to counsel on intellectual property issues.
- Represented a federal administrative agency in a one-week bench trial and on appeal at the Ninth Circuit, in a matter involving allegations of disability discrimination, securing complete victories for United States at every stage.
- Represented a federal security agency in a multi-day evidentiary hearing and on appeal at the Ninth Circuit, in a matter involving allegations of lactation discrimination and breach of contract, securing complete victories for the United States at every stage.
- Represented a federal agency responsible for awarding scholarships in a two-week bench trial involving allegations of antisemitic discrimination, resulting in a complete victory for the United States at trial.
- Represented the FDA director and inspectors at depositions noticed as part of the SEC’s civil case against Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, related to his involvement with Theranos, Inc.
- Defended a satellite communications company in an eight patent case which settled favorably on the eve of trial.
- Case Western Reserve University School of Law
(J.D., 2011)- Certificate in Intellectual Property Law
- Journal of Law, Technology & The Internet:
- Founder; Submissions Editor; Production Editor
- University of California Davis
(B.S., Molecular Genetics, cum laude, 2007)
(B.A., English, cum laude, 2007)- Davis Honors Challenge Program
- The State Bar of California
- The State Bar of Oregon
- United States District Court:
- Eastern District of Texas
- Northern District of California
- United States Court of Appeals:
- Federal Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States Bankruptcy Court:
- Northern District of California
- Law Clerk for the Honorable John D. Love:
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, 2013-2014
- Assistant United States Attorney:
- United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Civil Division, 2019-2025
- Panel Moderator, 2019 E.D. Tex. Bench Bar, “Does 101 Need Fixing? A Discussion of Changes in the Air, Panelists including the Honorable Richard Linn (CAFC), the Honorable Roy Payne (E.D. Tex.) Tripp Fussell III, Mayer Brown, and Philip Warrick, Counsel to Senator Chris Coons, Ranking Member on Intellectual Property, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
- Panelist, 2017 E.D. Tex. Bench Bar, “Words, Phrases & Rhetorical Ploys That Will Make Some Judge Skin Crawl, Moderated by Andy Tindel, MT2 Law Group
- J. Wesley Samples, The Dilemma of Declaratory Judgments and Licensing Patents: The Impact of Uncertainty Surrounding the Declaratory Judgment Standard, ASS’N OF UNIV. TECH. MANAGERS, ANNUAL MEETING (2011)
- Kelley MJ, Rose A, Song K, Lystrup B, Samples JW, Acott TS, p38 MAP Kinase Pathway and Stromelysin Regulation in Trabecular Meshwork Cells, 48 INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCI. 3126 (2007)