David Samson

David Samson was nominated to the Board of Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie. He was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on January 25, 2011 and was elected as the agency’s Chairman on February 3, 2011. Mr. Samson is a Partner and founding member of the law firm Wolff & Samson. During 2002-2003, Mr. Samson served as New Jersey Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer for New Jersey. In this role, he supervised the statewide Divisions of Criminal Justice, New Jersey State Police, Civil Rights, Consumer Affairs and Gaming Enforcement, as well as the Division of Law, which represents all executive departments in New Jersey State government. As Chairman of the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, he worked hand-in-hand with federal agencies in organizing and directing counter-terrorism efforts throughout the New Jersey-New York area. In 2009, Mr. Samson was counsel to the gubernatorial election campaign of Christopher J. Christie and thereafter served as the Chairman of the Transition Committee for Governor Christie. Mr. Samson has also acted as a court-appointed labor union trustee, a civil litigation discovery master and as a federal monitor pursuant to a United States Department of Justice deferred prosecution agreement. Among his public positions, Mr. Samson was appointed by Governor James Florio as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Health Care Costs and by Governor Thomas Kean as the Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on the Laws Governing the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He also served from 1982-1990 as General Counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Mr. Samson was appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to serve on its Ethics Committee and was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Reporting of Court Decisions. He was also the legal consultant to the Advisory Committee to the Attorney General on Governmental Immunity. In addition, Mr. Samson served on the New Jersey Bar Association Committee on Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments.