Samuel H. Clark
Samuel H. Clark
Biography
Mr. Samuel H. Clark is a Member in Burns White’s Indiana office and serves as Chair of the firm’s Real Estate and Property Services practice group. Mr. Clark focuses his practice in the areas of real estate, oil, gas, and mineral law, estate and trust administration, environmental law, and creditor’s rights.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Clark was a partner at an Indiana firm representing clients throughout Pennsylvania in various matters related to real estate, environmental law, and estates and trusts. He is the former Southwest Regional Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Mr. Clark received his Juris Doctor from Widener School of Law, where he was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society and participated in the Harrisburg Civil Law Clinic as a certified legal intern. He received his undergraduate degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Clark is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Indiana County Bar Association. He is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Credentials
Areas of Law
- Real Estate
- Business
- Estate and Trust Administration
- Creditor’s Rights
- Environmental
- Litigation
- Oil & Gas
Education
- Widener University Commonwealth Law School
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Bar and Court Admissions
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Memberships
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Indiana County Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association
Accolades & Involvement
Honors and Awards
- Philadelphia Magazine’s “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Stars Edition”
- Secured the reversal of a nearly $100,000 property tax assessment that was imposed on a hospital after it had purchased and took over operations of a 57-acre park in Indiana County. In May 2024, the hospital purchased the park from a non-profit foundation for nearly $4 million. Since the time of its establishment, the park was exempt from the assessment of real property taxes. In August 2024, however, the county’s assessment office notified the hospital that the park would lose its tax-exempt status starting in 2025. Based on the value of the property, the change in assessment would result in an annual tax liability of nearly $100,000 for the hospital. After receiving notice of the assessment change, Burns White attorneys filed an appeal and application for exemption from taxation with the County’s Board of Assessment Appeals, arguing that the park was exempt from taxation under the Pennsylvania’s Constitution, the Purely Public Charity Act, and the Consolidated County Assessment Law. Before a hearing could be held on the hospital’s complaint, however, the County’s Assessment Office changed course and reversed its prior determination, thus agreeing that the park was exempt from real property taxes under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Purely Public Charity Act, and Consolidated County Assessment Law.
