About April W. Sampson

In 2023, April received the Trial and Appellate Advocacy Award from the South Carolina Bar in recognition of her outstanding trial techniques and for exemplifying the highest standards of professional competence and integrity.  She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and the University of South Carolina School of Law.  April’s focus is state and federal criminal law, and she is licensed to practice in the United States District Court and the United States Supreme Court.  April has been recognized for her knowledge of Stand Your Ground law and has trained judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys on how to handle these hearings.  April is a featured guest commentator on CourtTV and was one of the prosecutors who convicted Nathaniel Rowland of murder in the infamous mistaken ride share murder of Samantha Josephson.  April was selected as the 2022 South Carolina Women Lawyers Association Emerging Leader and a graduate of the 2023 Leadership of South Carolina program.

April is an active member of the South Carolina Bar Association, Richland County Bar Association, and the Black Lawyers Association.  She is the 2022 recipient of the Jonathan Jasper Wright Award, which was presented by the National Black Law Students Association in recognition for her work with mock trial teams.  As the former Circuit Deputy Solicitor for the Fifth Circuit, April has prosecuted hundreds of cases and trained prosecutors on the state and national level.  She has over 2 decades of knowledge on how to defend criminal cases and is a sharp adversary in the courtroom.  She has been a presenter and several continuing legal education seminars across the state and for the National District Attorneys Association.

In 2014, after successfully battling breast cancer, April started a nonprofit organization called In The Middle, which provides financial assistance to breast cancer survivors in South Carolina who are financially “in the middle” – survivors who are employed or have health insurance, so they do not qualify for any assistance programs but who don’t have enough money to pay for all the costs that come with fighting breast cancer.  Her passion and dedication to helping those in need is one of the reasons she was named as a 2023 recipient of the University of South Carolina Compleat Lawyer Award, which recognizes alumni for their outstanding civic and professional accomplishments, significant contributions to the legal profession, and those who exemplify the highest standards of professional competence, ethics, and integrity.