Sam’s passion for public service started at the beginning of his legal career. After graduating from Fordham Law School, Sam declined a position at one of the country’s top law firms to serve in New Jersey’s Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. His service, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, included successful prosecutions of violent crimes, sex crimes, and economic crimes.

Sam is currently a partner at Stern, Kilcullen and Rufolo LLC in Palm Beach Gardens. He also teaches trial advocacy to law students and experienced lawyers at the University of Miami School of Law and at the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Sam is also the author of The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Cross-Examination (Skyhorse Publishing) and was elected in 2019 to the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Sam comes from a family of prosecutor’s and public servants. Sam’s father, Herbert J. Stern served the public for over 25 years as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and then as a Federal Judge. His grandfather, Samuel Stern, was an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General’s Office for thirty years.