Samar S. Ali concentrates her practice on cross-border transactions, international law and private diplomacy. She is a member of the firm's Administrative Law, Business and Corporate Law and International Law practices.

"I believe that government should be structured to make people's lives better and to create the opportunity to maximize potential both individually and collectively," Samar said. The former Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and White House Fellow has a passion for bettering people's lives and communities, and she has spent her career advocating for positive difference in America.

Her work with Haslam's Department of Economic and Community Development included managing Tennessee's global relations through the establishment of the International Division; creating a five-year international strategic plan for job growth among small- and medium-sized enterprises; and opening and managing investment recruitment and export development offices in key locations around the world.

In 2010, Samar was selected for the White House Fellowship, a program established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 to give young people the opportunity to work with the highest levels of the federal government and top-ranking officials to benefit their home communities. There, she served as an adviser on the senior staff of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, where she focused on foreign and domestic policy issues relating to national security in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. The White House fellowship is where Samar’s passion for her career path took shape–she realized her desire to make a positive difference in America through government and international relations.

Immediately following her fellowship, she worked as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. and in Doha, Qatar. From 2007 to 2010, Samar was an associate with Hogan Lovells US LLP; she worked in Washington, D.C. and the United Arab Emirates and established that firm's office in Abu Dhabi.

Samar is also an Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University, where she teaches courses in international relations. She received her B.S. in political science with honors from Vanderbilt, where she was the school's first Arab-American elected as Student Body President. She graduated with her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. She and her husband reside in Nashville.