Presentation of the
Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa
to
Samuel S. Lionel
Samuel S. Lionel has had a long, varied, and extraordinarily
successful career in both the public and private sectors. After
receiving his L.L.B. from St. John’s School of Law in 1940, he was
drafted into the military, serving in North Africa and Italy during
World War II. After a few years as a private practitioner he
returned to the military as a Judge Advocate during the Korean War
and later served at the Pentagon and at West Point as a faculty
member in the Department of Law. In 1967 he headed west to co-found
the firm of Lionel, Sawyer & Collins, a full-service business
and litigation law firm that is now the largest private law firm in
Nevada. He currently serves as President, is a member of the
Executive Committee and chairs the Litigation Department. His legal
acumen has been widely acknowledged and frequently commended. He is
a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For the past 25
years his expertise in Litigation and Corporate Law has been
recognized through his listing in The Best Lawyers in
America, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication
in the legal profession. The publication also named him “Las Vegas
Best Lawyers Corporate Lawyer of the Year” for 2010. He was
selected for inclusion in the Nevada edition of Super
Lawyers magazine in 2007 and 2008 and in the Mountain States
edition in 2009. His personal success is matched by a longstanding
commitment to bettering the broader society. He has embraced a
responsibility for helping students of all ages understand the
principles of democracy and the law through his participation as a
Director of the Foundation for Relevant Education About the Law,
also known as Project REAL. Evidencing his abiding love for St.
John’s, he is a member of The Loughlin Society and has twice been
recognized by a grateful University. In 2000 he was presented with
the Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award and in 2004, he received
the Belson Medal from the School of Law. It is with great pride and
profound pleasure that, in recognition of his exemplary legal
career, loyalty to alma mater and on the 70th anniversary
of his graduation, St. John’s University tonight confers the Doctor
of Laws degree, honoris causa, upon Samuel L. Lionel.
May 21, 2010