Sam Sheldon is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office, where he focuses on securities fraud and other complex civil litigation. Before joining the Firm in January 2024, Sheldon served more than five years as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Texas, primarily in Houston. He wrote opinions in almost every area of the law, including securities fraud, intellectual property, class actions, labor and employment, False Claims Act, and criminal law.
Most recently, Sheldon was a part of a team of Robbins Geller attorneys that successfully obtained a $434 million settlement in In re Under Armour Sec. Litig. The case settled just weeks before a jury trial was set to begin in Baltimore, Maryland. The $434 million recovery is the second largest securities fraud settlement ever in the Fourth Circuit and is among the top 50 largest such recoveries in U.S. history.
Before taking the federal bench, Sheldon was a partner with Quinn Emanuel in the Washington, D.C. office and headed the firm’s Health Care Practice Group. He represented plaintiffs in landmark cases brought under the federal False Claims Act.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America | 2026 | Plaintiff Securities Litigation |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America | 2026 | Securities, Complex Civil Litigation, Plaintiff |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2025 | Securities Fraud, Complex Civil Litigation |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers | 2024 | Securities Fraud, Complex Civil Litigation |
Sheldon previously served as Chief of the Health Care Fraud Unit in the DOJ Criminal Division in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the prosecution of federal health care fraud throughout the United States. He also was an Assistant United States Attorney in Texas. Earlier in his career, Sheldon was a partner with Cozen O’Connor in the San Diego office.
Sheldon has tried 25 cases as a federal prosecutor and civil litigator. He received numerous awards for his successful federal prosecutions from the DOJ and other federal agencies including the Special Achievement Award presented by the United States Attorney General. Sheldon has also been named a Leading Lawyer in America, a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer, and a Leading Litigator in America by Lawdragon.
Sheldon is most proud of his pro bono accomplishments, including successfully persuading Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden to grant nine federal clemency petitions. Feature stories describing his legal victories have appeared in The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, The San Diego-Union Tribune, San Diego Lawyer, ABC Nightly News, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. A victory in one of Sheldon’s pro bono cases was selected by the Editor of The American Lawyer as the “Most Inspiring Pro Bono Win of 2015.”
Sheldon grew up in San Diego and received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Southern California, where he proudly served as the Student Body President. Sheldon received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center.