Team
Steven J. Pacini
Founder
Steven J. Pacini represents growth companies and their founders, executives, boards, and investors in transaction‑related disputes, employment litigation, and complex commercial conflicts.
He practiced for seventeen years at leading international firms, including fourteen years at Latham & Watkins, where he served as Counsel in the Litigation & Trial Department.
Over time, his practice evolved into a first‑call role for deal teams and in‑house legal departments — advising on risk, leverage, and escalation before disputes surfaced, and litigating through trial or arbitration when necessary.
After seventeen years on large‑firm litigation platforms, Steven founded Pacini Law to deliver the part of that model clients rely on most — senior judgment, early strategy, and decisive execution — without unnecessary layers.
Pacini Law was built to provide end‑to‑end litigation and advisory counsel with speed, cost control, and disciplined escalation.
Clients engage Pacini Law when leverage, enterprise risk, and enterprise value are on the line.
He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and represents clients nationwide in state and federal courts and in arbitration.
Samuel Barrows
Senior Counsel
Samuel Barrows represents growth companies, investors, and executives in complex, high-stakes business disputes, particularly those involving transaction-driven conflicts and aggressive litigation tactics.
His practice focuses on disputes arising out of mergers, financings, and other sophisticated commercial relationships, frequently governed by New York and Delaware law. Sam has experience across all phases of litigation and arbitration, including evidentiary hearings, dispositive motion practice, and first-chair dispositive oral argument.
Before joining Pacini Law, Sam practiced in the Litigation & Trial Department at Latham & Watkins, handling complex commercial and insurance-related disputes.
Sam brings unusual analytical rigor to how disputes are framed and prosecuted. He has written on "paper terrorism" and the Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) phenomenon — the abuse of legal process through manufactured claims, serial filings, and procedural pressure rather than merits-based adjudication. That perspective informs his practice: identifying procedural gamesmanship early, constraining it, and keeping disputes anchored to the merits and the client's business objectives.
At Pacini Law, Sam plays a central role in case strategy and execution. He works closely with founders, CEOs, and general counsel — hands-on and in real time — to frame claims, manage risk, and drive matters efficiently toward resolution or decisive litigation.
Sam earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School, where he served as an Executive Senior Editor of the Boston College Law Review. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College and is admitted to practice in Massachusetts.
