Samantha Grund-Wickramasekera is a proud Chicago Public School and DePaul Double Demon graduate. She graduated summa cum laude from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a double major in Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies, with a minor in LGBTQ Studies. She was also an Arthur G. Schmitt Scholar. At DePaul College of Law, she earned Dean's List recognition across multiple semesters and received the school's Order of the Barristers honor for excellence in advocacy.
Samantha currently serves as an appellate judicial law clerk to the Honorable Cynthia Y. Cobbs at the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, in Chicago. In this role, she advises and drafts judicial opinions and orders in both civil and criminal cases. Prior to that role, she served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Illinois Attorney General's Office, where she litigated on behalf of state officials and agencies in civil and quasi-criminal matters across the state of Illinois. She also served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Franklin U. Valderrama in the Chancery Division at the Circuit Court of Cook County, as well as an assistant corporation counsel at the City of Chicago Law Department in its Legal Information and Prosecutions Division.
Prior to becoming a licensed attorney, Samantha was a judicial extern to the Honorable Sara L. Ellis in the Northern District of Illinois; the Honorable John C. Griffin of the Circuit Court of Cook County; and the late Honorable Alexander White of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She participated in the law school's Civil Litigation Clinic and served as a legal extern at the Field Museum, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and Ascend Justice (formerly known as the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic). She also worked at a variety of private law firms, including firms specializing in municipal, business, estate planning, personal injury, and civil rights law.
During law school, Samantha participated in the school's Appellate Moot court Society, where she competed in three moot court competitions. She also served as a staff member of the DePaul Journal of Healthcare Law and a member of the Health Law Institute, where she contributed to the school's E-Pulse Newsletter. She also served as the Academic Advisor for the Asian-Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA). Finally, she served as a research assistant to Professor Rebecca Feinberg in the area of bioethics and genetic testing and received a certificate in Healthcare Law upon graduation.
Since graduation from law school, Samantha has served as an alumni coach for the moot court society. In 2022, Samantha co-created the law school's Advanced Brief Writing course, which works in tandem with second-year law students competing within the society. In her role there, Samantha advises and supports law students as they draft appellate briefs and prepare for oral argument in moot court competitions across the country.