About Samantha E. Freed

Samantha Freed attended Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and received a B.A. in Medical Ethics. She earned a certificate in Health Law and her J.D. at the University of Maryland School in 2005. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable William O. Carr of Harford County, Maryland. She then moved to Charlottesville, when in 2007, under the tutelage of Lloyd Snook & Sheila Haughey, Samantha developed a passion for advocating for those in our community who needed it most - the underserved, underprivileged and the most vulnerable of children. In June 2012, she and Bonnie Lepold opened Lepold & Freed, PLLC where she and her partners ran a successful law practice for 10 years.  She joined Tremblay & Smith in January 2022 as a partner.

Samantha’s primary area of legal practice involves child welfare law, advocating for abused and neglected children and adults. Currently, she represents several local Departments of Social Services throughout Central Virginia, including Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Madison and Louisa. She also serves as a guardian ad litem for children whose parents are going through divorce or custody litigation and as a guardian ad litem for adults in Petitions for Guardianship and Conservatorship. Her domestic relations practice also includes representing clients in protective order hearings and adoptions.

Her experience of representing criminal defendants has included charges of homicide, sexually-based offenses, narcotics, felony and misdemeanor assault, property crimes and traffic offenses. She represents clients from the pre-charge and investigation phase all the way through trial, including jury trials. Clients benefit from Samantha’s thorough preparation at every stage of the criminal process, including conducting her own investigation or hiring a private investigator, thoroughly interviewing witnesses, for both the guilt/innocence phase as well as for mitigation, and consulting with experts to assist in examining forensic or digital evidence.

During Samantha’s representation of clients, she is constantly assessing the upside and downside of the many decisions made throughout a case, including the impact of how a court’s decision will influence other parts of a client’s personal and professional life. She never shies away from going to trial but appreciates that litigants may be in the best position to reach an optimal resolution with the help of a fierce advocate such as Samantha without having to step foot in a courtroom.

Samantha is a member of the several legal organizations, including the National Association of Counsel for Children and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Law Judges.