Meet Our Team
Samantha Bell Sugarman, Partner
Samantha has focused exclusively on domestic relations law for 15 years and has chosen to concentrate her practice in this area not only to advise clients on their legal rights, but to compassionately guide them through an extremely trying period in their lives. Samantha is committed to approaching her work on a case-by-case basis and tailoring her strategy to meet individual client needs and goals.
For clients seeking an alternative to litigation, Samantha often employs alternative dispute resolution processes to settle cases outside of court in a respectful and efficient manner. She is a qualified practitioner of Collaborative Law and has extensive experience navigating clients through mediated divorces.
Samantha began her career practicing commercial law at a large corporate firm in Chicago. She utilized her years in corporate law to hone in on her litigation and trial skills, while also having the unique opportunity to argue an appellate case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit as a young attorney. However, given her focus on psychology and communications in her undergraduate career, as well as her passion for helping those in need, Samantha knew she ultimately desired to dedicate 100% of her practice to family law. As a result, she joined Griffin McCarthy & Rice LLP, now known as GMR Family Law LLP, in 2009. Samantha is licensed to practice law in both Illinois and Connecticut.
Samantha served as the Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Domestic Relations Committee from 2017-2018. She has been selected by her peers as an Illinois Rising Star in the area of Family Law every year since 2012, a designation reserved for the top 2.5% of all Illinois attorneys under 40. In 2014, Samantha completed the Houston Family Law Trial Institute program, an intensive eight-day litigation seminar focused on advanced family law issues such as custody disputes and business evaluations.
Samantha has been a guest lecturer about many areas of family law such as the collaborative divorce process, mediation and taking depositions of expert witnesses. Samantha co-authored a chapter of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s handbook, “Illinois Family Law: Preliminary Considerations in Dissolution Actions,” entitled “Pleadings Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.”
Outside of her legal practice, Samantha is a member of the Executive Board of Bright Pink, a national non-profit organization that saves women’s lives from breast and ovarian cancer by empowering them to live proactively at a young age. She is also on the Board of Directors of Dancing While Cancering, a non-profit organization focused on bringing joy to the in-patient hospital experience for pediatric cancer patients.
Education
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, B.S. (Summa Cum Laude)
Bronze Tablet (signifying a rank in the top 3% of her class)
Phi Beta Kappa
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, J.D. (Magna Cum Laude)
Externship for Honorable Judge Coffey, United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
Member of Law Review
Member of National Frederick Green Moot Court Team
Received Rickert Award for Excellence in Advocacy