Selena Samale

Outside General Counsel

Selena regularly serves as outside general counsel to organizations across highly regulated and operationally complex industries. In this role, she provides practical day-to-day guidance on contracts, governance, compliance, and business operations. Her experience includes:

• Advising community banks on regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and operational matters.
• Assisting a large nonprofit health insurance company with transactional and compliance matters while coordinating with subject matter experts across multiple disciplines.
• Managing third-party contract negotiations for an electric cooperative.
• Advising mining companies on procurement, contract negotiations, and operational issues.

Banking and Financial Services

Selena represents financial institutions, lenders, and borrowers in a wide range of transactional and operational matters, including:

• Mergers and acquisitions, branch sales, capital raises, shareholder matters, conversions, and vender contracts for community banks.
• Secured financing transactions, commercial lines of credit, and project finance.
• Product development and customer solutions for a bankers’ bank, including correspondent banking services, analytics offerings, and swap agreements.
• Expansion and management of specialty finance programs, including CRA loan products, for a national bank.

International

Selena advises foreign clients on investments and business operations in the United States and assists U.S.-based clients with international investments and cross-border operations. She has experience working with matters involving Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Central America, and Africa.

Selena’s international perspective is shaped not only by her legal experience, but also by her personal background. She was an AFS exchange student in Hong Kong, later taught English there, and also lived in Argentina. These experiences continue to inform her global outlook and relationship-driven approach to client service.