Written By: Samantha Capaldo
The ALEI team at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) campus recently
welcomed Samantha Capaldo as a Senior Legal Research Associate. Samantha
graduated from Virginia Tech in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science and in
2020 with a master’s degree in Agricultural and Life Sciences. She then went on to
receive her Juris Doctorate from Drake University Law School. Through Drake, she also
received certificates in Food and Agriculture Law and Legislative Practice. While at
Drake, Samantha completed internships with the United States Department of
Agriculture Office of General Counsel and the Iowa Senate. Additionally, she was a
legal research assistant at the Drake University Law School Agricultural Law Center and
a research fellow at the National Agricultural Law Center. Prior to law school, Samantha
worked in commercial insurance marketing at an insurance agency in Virginia.
Samantha is licensed to practice law in Iowa and is a licensed insurance producer in
Virginia and North Carolina.
Samantha will be working on a variety of projects including projects on heirs’ property,
workers’ compensation insurance, and climate policy. She will be continuing to work on
the Heirs’ Property Needs Assessment for Maryland, originally started by Ellis Collier,
our first Senior Legal Research Associate. The Heirs’ Property Needs Assessment will
involve a statewide survey to collect data on heirs’ property in Maryland and a report on
the data collected from the survey. Samantha will also be completing a project on
workers’ compensation which will involve creating a guide to workers’ compensation for
agricultural producers in Maryland. She will also be part of a multi-state grant project
involving 1890’s universities conducting research on the effects of climate policy on
small and underrepresented farmers.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Samantha is excited to be back in the Mid-
Atlantic region and develop legal resources to assist the Maryland agricultural
community.
