By: Jeremy Murphy
At Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, P.C., a firm known for high-stakes headline-making cases and vigorous advocacy, Diana Fabi Samson occupies a vital role. Having worked in multiple practices, Samson brings a combination of trial experience, appellate judgment, and pragmatic perspective to the firm’s most complex matters.
“My role in the firm is heading up the appellate work,” Samson says. That means assigning appeals, editing briefs, and helping shape the arguments that can determine the future of a case long after trial. In a firm filled with trial lawyers, former prosecutors, retired judges, and young litigators, Samson plays a major role in shaping the written advocacy and strategic analysis behind many cases.
From Prosecutor to Appellate Strategist
Her path to that role began at one of the most storied prosecutor’s offices in the country. After graduating from Villanova University School of Law, Samson joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office under Robert M. Morgenthau. Although she did not expect to do any appellate work at first, she was assigned to appeals soon after joining the D.A.’s office.
While based in the Appeals Bureau, she gained broader trial and investigative experience. She prosecuted major felonies, including homicide and armed robbery, worked on fraud investigations, and wrote and edited significant appellate briefs. She credits much of her development to Mark Dwyer, who led the Appeals Bureau before becoming a judge. “He was a fabulous mentor,” she says.
After leaving the Manhattan DA’s office, Samson taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Toledo Law School. She later stepped back from full-time practice while raising her four children, a period she describes with warmth and without regret. Her family moved often as her husband’s career in finance took them to different cities, and Samson chose to focus on her children before gradually returning to the law.
In 2018, when her youngest child entered high school, Samson began taking on more legal work. She first heard of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins from her sister, who knew Arthur Aidala from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, where she was an Executive Assistant District Attorney.
“When I first met Arthur, he had an enormous appeal to manage, and I immediately offered to take on the task,” Samson recalls.
The Harvey Weinstein Appeal
Today, Samson’s practice is broad. In addition to appeals, she handles criminal litigation, civil litigation, transactional work and estate matters, including probate and administration in New York Surrogate’s Court and Connecticut Probate Court.
But appellate advocacy remains the center of her work.
That work was on display in the firm’s appeal for Harvey Weinstein. Samson wrote the brief that ultimately helped persuade New York’s highest court to reverse Weinstein’s conviction, a decision with far-reaching implications. While she acknowledges that outcome was complicated for the client, she believes the ruling strengthened protections for criminal defendants across New York.
Client-Centered Advocacy
For Samson, the work is never abstract. She is motivated by the belief that in representing clients, it is much more than just the charges against them; criminal cases frequently contain gray areas, mitigation, overcharging, or facts that prosecutors overlook.
A good outcome, she adds, can mean different things depending on the circumstances. Sometimes it is an acquittal. Sometimes it is a favorable plea. Sometimes it is avoiding a catastrophic risk while preserving a future. “We’re not cavalier about the consequences to our client,” she says.
That client-centered approach fits the culture of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, which Samson describes as energetic, funny, and familial. The firm’s greatest strength, she says, is the range of perspectives it brings to cases.
“We have people with a lot of experience, and then we have new young guns and everything in between,” she says. “Even though it’s a small firm, we have a lot of loud voices coming from different perspectives, and ultimately that’s a good thing.”
A New View of Justice
Samson believes that effective defense work requires both courage and judgment. Lawyers debate strategy, ethics, publicity, and risk, all while keeping the client’s best interest as their North Star.
For an attorney who once thought she was “on the white horse” as a prosecutor, the defense has given her a new sense of purpose. “I feel like I’m definitely on the white horse now,” she says. “We are doing good work for good people.”
After years away from full-time practice, Samson has returned not only to the law but to the part of it that first shaped her, with hard questions, high stakes, and the ability to help clients with very serious problems.
