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Overview
Jessica Samford is a Partner in FMG’s Insurance Coverage & Extra-Contractual Liability, Professional Liability / Errors & Omissions, and Appellate Advocacy practice areas. Ms. Samford has significant experience representing insurance companies in property damage, third-party, and bad faith claims in and out of Georgia courtrooms. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Southeast Coverage practice area, and a large part of her practice involves insurance coverage analysis and litigation, including declaratory judgment actions and defending against bad faith allegations. She also defends insurance and legal professionals. Ms. Samford has some in-house experience as a cyber and media claim manager for an international specialty insurance company as well.
Before joining Freeman Mathis & Gary, Ms. Samford clerked for the Honorable Clay D. Land of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, magna cum laude, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She also served as an articles editor for the Georgia Law Review and a teaching assistant for Legal Research & Writing and has received awards for excellence in Evidence and Legal Research and Writing. Ms. Samford also interned for Chief Judge Lawton E. Stephens of the Superior Court of Athens-Clarke County during law school.
Before law school, Ms. Samford earned two undergraduate degrees - her Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business with an emphasis in Legal Studies and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish - from the University of Georgia, where she graduated summa cum laude and with Highest Honors from the Honors Program.
Ms. Samford is actively involved in the Federal Bar Association, Atlanta Chapter as a board member and strives to live up to the challenge of making an “Infinite Impact” as a 2018 graduate of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Cobb.
Bar Admissions
Georgia
- Georgia Court of Appeals
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
U.S. Courts of Appeals
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Education
J.D. (magna cum laude)
University of Georgia School of Law
B.B.A., B.A. (summa cum laude)
University of Georgia
Publications & Engagements
- “FMG convinces Eleventh Circuit to find for client on competing “other insurance” clauses,” FMG BlogLine (December 2024)
- “Court of Appeals of Georgia Affirms No Continuous Representation Rule in Georgia,” FMG BlogLine (August 2023)
- “Appellate Opinion Reaffirms that Insurance Coverage Defenses such as Policy Exclusions are Not Subject to Waiver Under Georgia Law,” FMG BlogLine (March 2023)
- “Storms and hurricanes: what can insurers do to improve outcomes for all on storm-related claims?” FMG BlogLine (October 2022)
- “The Travis Scott concert tragedy and related insurance issues,” FMG BlogLine (December 2021)
- “Insurance Requirements and First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Speech and Assembly” FMG BlogLine (July 2020)
- “Could There Be Any Insurance Coverage for the Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire?” FMG BlogLine (May 2019)
- “Is Georgia Game for Growing Bad Faith Liability?” FMG BlogLine (July 2018)
- “Tax Day Troubles?” FMG BlogLine (April 2018)
- “In Defending Legal Malpractice Suits in Georgia, When Subsequent Legal Counsel Was Retained Could Be Crucial,” FMG BlogLine (November 2017)
- “It Can Take Much Less Than Fraud to Forfeit Insurance Coverage,” FMG BlogLine (March 2017)
- “Insurance Claims ‘Arising Out Of’ Halloween Festivities,” FMG BlogLine (October 19, 2016)
- “Accident at Wrigley Field and What that Means in the Insurance World,” FMG BlogLine (April 2016)
- “Ashley Madison Hack Raises Questions of Insurable Loss,” FMG BlogLine (September 2015)
- “A Day Late and a Dollar Short,” FMG BlogLine (March 2015)
- “Aiding and Abetting Claims Against Professionals,” co-author, DRI (2014)
Representative Cases & Clients
Trial level:
- Reshetnichenko v. Starnet Ins. Co., No. 1:22-CV-29 (LAG), 2024 WL 5439689 (M.D. Ga. Mar. 28, 2024)
- Encompass Home & Auto Ins. Co. v. Stevens Hale & Assocs., 621 F. Supp. 3d 1326, 1328 (S.D. Ga. 2022)
- Am. Serv. Ins. Co., Inc. v. Webber’s Transportation, LLC, No. 4:20-CV-013, 2022 WL 3702059 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 26, 2022)
- Butler v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co., No. 1:21-CV-2138-MLB, 2022 WL 684157 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 8, 2022)
- Cable Broadband & Telecommunications, LLC v. Depositors Ins. Co., No. 1:16-CV-04006-ELR, 2018 WL 10647207 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 28, 2018)
Appellate level:
- Nationwide Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Renaissance Bliss, LLC, 396 F. Supp. 3d 1287 (N.D. Ga. 2019), aff’d 823 Fed. Appx. 815 (11th Cir. 2020)
- Am. Reliable Ins. Co. v. Lancaster, 356 Ga. App. 854, 849 S.E.2d 697 (2020)
- Gemini Ins. Co. v. Stafford Transp., Inc., Civil Action No. 3:15-cv-130-TCB (N.D. Ga. 2016), aff’d Gemini Ins. Co. v. Castro, 723 Fed. Appx. 797 (11th Cir. 2018)
- Popham v. Landmark Am. Ins. Co., 340 Ga. App. 603, 798 S.E.2d 257 (2017)
Affiliations
- Cobb Chamber of Commerce
- Leadership Cobb Class of 2018
- Leadership Cobb Alumni Association
- Cobb Young Professionals
- State Bar of Georgia
- Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), Extracontractual Committee member
- Federal Bar Association (FBA), Atlanta Chapter Board member
Awards & Recognition
- Recognized in Georgia Super Lawyers – Rising Stars 2026
- “Pro Bono Star Award” – Atlanta Legal Aid (2019)
Classes/Seminars Taught
- The Insurance Ecosystem, co-panelist (December 2025)
- Anatomy of CGL Policies, co-presenter (November 2025)
- Anatomy of CGL and Property Policies, co-presenter (September 2025)
- Professional Development and Insurance 101, co-panelist (January 2025)
- “Construction Defects Coverage in Georgia,” co-presenter (August 2022, March 2025)
- “Lawyering & Social Media,” FMG Webinar (September 2018)
- “Bad Faith Failure to Settle in Georgia and California,” FMG Webinar (October 2017)
- “Insurance Coverage Fundamentals: Reservations of Rights and Declaratory Judgment Actions,” co-presenter (May 2016)
- “Georgia Insurance Coverage Core Workout,” co-presenter (2015)Professional Development and Insurance 101, co-panelist (January 2025)
- “Construction Defects Coverage in Georgia, Parts I and II,” co-presenter (August 2022)
- “Lawyering & Social Media,” FMG Webinar (September 2018)
- “Bad Faith Failure to Settle in Georgia and California,” FMG Webinar (October 2017)
- “Insurance Coverage Fundamentals: Reservations of Rights and Declaratory Judgment Actions,” co-presenter, (May 2016)
- “Georgia Insurance Coverage Core Workout,” co-presenter, FMG Seminar/Webinar (2015)
Practice Sections
Interdisciplinary Teams
Education
J.D. (magna cum laude)
University of Georgia School of Law
B.B.A., B.A. (summa cum laude)
University of Georgia