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Samuel Gregory’s practice reads like a Brooklyn defense-bar biography written in reverse order of glamour: Legal Aid public defender in 1984, promoted within three years to major-offense attorney handling the borough’s most serious cases, private practice since 1991, and — per his own account — among the first attorneys in New York certified to handle death-penalty cases, with the first acquittal in a death-eligible case on Staten Island in 1997. Four decades on, he practices from the Montague-Court Building at 16 Court Street, teaches trial advocacy, and holds the Kings County Criminal Bar Association’s Man of the Year honor.
At a Glance
| Firm | Law Offices of Samuel Gregory, P.C. |
| Principal Attorney | Samuel Gregory |
| Office | 16 Court Street, Suite 3500, Brooklyn, NY 11241 (the Montague-Court Building, Brooklyn Heights court corridor) |
| Focus | Serious state and federal criminal defense — homicide, major drug cases, RICO, white-collar matters, sex-offense allegations, DWI, grand-jury representation — plus civil-rights litigation, across the five boroughs, the federal courts, and New Jersey |
| Background | Legal Aid Society public defender from 1984, promoted to major-offense attorney within three years; private practice since 1991 (formerly of Lazzaro and Gregory, P.C.) |
| Admissions | New York (1984); New Jersey (1988); U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1991) |
| Education | B.S. with High Distinction, Boston University (political science and philosophy); J.D. cum laude, New York Law School |
| Fee Structure | Free initial consultation |
Career History
Gregory took his law degree cum laude from New York Law School and joined the Legal Aid Society in 1984, litigating more than thirty cases to verdict as a public defender and earning promotion to major-offense attorney — the unit handling Brooklyn’s gravest charges — inside three years. He entered private practice in 1991 with Lazzaro and Gregory, P.C., handling demanding, high-profile matters before opening his own firm, deliberately structured for fewer cases and more attention per client. His account of the capital-defense chapter is a genuine distinction: certification among New York’s first death-penalty defense attorneys during the state’s capital-punishment era, and the first acquittal in a death-eligible case on Staten Island in 1997. Alongside the practice runs a teaching career — trial-advocacy professor at St. John’s University School of Law, regular lecturer at Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School, and a long-running Kings County Criminal Bar Association seminar on identifying and implementing a theory of defense — plus board service at the KCCBA, which named him its 2016 Man of the Year, and legal-analyst appearances on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and TruTV.
Practice Concentration
The practice concentrates on the serious end of the docket: homicide, major narcotics, RICO, complex federal matters, white-collar issues, and sex-offense allegations, with grand-jury and investigation-stage representation and a civil-rights litigation line. The federal capability is genuine — Second Circuit appellate admission and argued appearances, SDNY trial work — and the geographic range runs through all five boroughs and New Jersey. The structural choice is boutique deliberateness: a caseload sized for personal attention on matters where the stakes justify it.
Track Record
The firm’s published record includes acquittals in all five boroughs, the federal courts, and New Jersey; not-guilty verdicts in a 100-kilogram drug case and two separate double-homicide trials; the 1997 Staten Island death-eligible acquittal; and recent illustrative results such as a misdemeanor disposition in a multiple-gun possession case built on the client’s military record, and a federal investigation closed with no charges filed. These are the firm’s and clients’ accounts, attributed as such; no independently audited dispositions ledger exists, and this research did not verify individual outcomes. The firm’s acquittal-rate characterization is likewise its own. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
Client Voice
The review record is positive with an honest caveat: Martindale’s client aggregate sits at 4.1 of 5 across a small base — strong but not unblemished, which we report as found. The individual accounts are vivid: a client facing up to twenty years in a federal SDNY drug case writes that Gregory “kept it real with me” and secured a dramatically better outcome; another, whose case other attorneys considered a lost cause, credits him with the defense that saved it; a third reports a federal investigation ended with no charges and calls his fees very reasonable. A twenty-year peer endorsement describes an excellent lawyer with an excellent reputation. This research did not surface any public disciplinary findings.
Beyond the Courtroom
Gregory’s community signature is unusual and concrete: each year he directs and organizes an Alaskan wilderness expedition for Brooklyn teenagers, teaching survival and teamwork skills — a decades-long personal investment in the borough’s young men that has nothing to do with marketing. Add the teaching load, the bar-association board service, and lectures delivered even inside the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and the profile is of a practitioner embedded in Brooklyn’s legal and civic fabric.
Recognition
Sorting per our standard: the Kings County Criminal Bar Association’s 2016 Man of the Year award and its board seat are genuine peer-institutional honors; the Super Lawyers selection is peer-informed recognition from a commercial publication; the law-school teaching appointments are substantive academic credentials; the media-analyst roles reflect editorial selection by news organizations; and the capital-certification history is a court-system credential from New York’s death-penalty era, presented per the attorney’s account. A disclosure we apply to every New York profile: New York State does not operate a board certification program for legal specialties comparable to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, so no New York attorney profile on this site will describe its subject as a state-certified specialist, and this profile attributes no state specialty certification to Gregory.
New York Legal Backdrop
A New York criminal case moves on statutory clocks that defendants rarely know exist. After arrest, arraignment generally must occur within about twenty-four hours; a felony defendant held on bail must be released under CPL § 180.80 if the prosecution fails to secure grand jury action within the statutory period (120 hours, or 144 hours spanning a weekend or holiday). CPL § 30.30 sets speedy-trial clocks — six months on most felonies, ninety days on class A misdemeanors — and New York’s discovery reform, CPL Article 245, obligates prosecutors to turn over their evidence on an automatic timetable. CPL § 160.59 permits sealing of up to two eligible convictions after ten crime-free years. At the docket’s serious end — homicide, major narcotics, RICO — the grand jury phase and the defense’s theory-of-the-case discipline decide more than most defendants realize, which is precisely the subject Gregory has taught Brooklyn’s defense bar for over fifteen years. Brooklyn felonies are tried in Kings County Supreme Court, two blocks from this office. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The case for Gregory is heavyweight-docket craft with teacher’s credentials: forty years across public defense and private practice, capital-case formation, firm-reported acquittals at the severity ceiling including double homicides, genuine federal and appellate capability, a deliberately limited caseload, and the peer standing evidenced by a bar association’s highest annual honor and a teaching career the borough’s defense bar actually attends.
The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this is a solo-led boutique, and the deliberately limited caseload cuts both ways — personal attention for those accepted, capacity limits for everyone else; the marquee results, including the capital-era distinctions and acquittal record, are the attorney’s and firm’s own accounts; the Martindale client aggregate of 4.1 is strong but not spotless; there is no prosecutorial background — the formation here is public defense; and admission dates from 1984 invite the ordinary longevity questions for multi-year matters.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of the Law Offices of Samuel Gregory, P.C. Primary sources: the firm’s website (samgregory.com), including its home, about, attorney-biography, Brooklyn-office, and testimonials pages (the Legal Aid start and major-offense promotion; the 1991 private-practice entry and Lazzaro and Gregory history; the capital-certification account and 1997 Staten Island result; the five-borough, federal, and New Jersey acquittal record and specific verdicts attributed above; the Suite 3500 office address; the Alaska youth-expedition program; the testimonials quoted in Client Voice). Independent verification: Super Lawyers profile (Boston University B.S. with High Distinction; New York Law School J.D. cum laude; 1984 New York and New Jersey-era admissions; Second Circuit 1991; the St. John’s teaching appointment; the KCCBA seminar and board history; the 2016 Man of the Year award); Martindale profile (admission years; the 4.1 client aggregate disclosed above; practice designations); Avvo profile (the federal-investigation client review; the twenty-year peer endorsement; the Lazzaro and Gregory career chronology); FindLaw and LawInfo listings (federal trial and Second Circuit argument history; media-analyst roles; the April 2017 results attributed above). Statutes cited in the New York Legal Backdrop were verified against the New York Criminal Procedure Law (§§ 30.30, 160.59, 180.80, and Article 245).
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by the Law Offices of Samuel Gregory, P.C., and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.