Senior Advisor

Sam Rubenstein is a Senior Advisor to Pennington Partners & Co., where he focuses primarily on tax minimization strategies relevant to the legal services industry, including strategies for successful law firm partners and law firms evaluating or pursuing Management Services Organization (MSO) and Alternative Business Structure (ABS) transactions.

Mr. Rubenstein is also the Founder and President of Panacea Capital Advisors, Inc., a venture investment and strategic advisory firm based in Bethesda, Maryland. In this capacity, he advises and supports founders, business owners, senior executives, and management teams as a strategic advisor, mentor, counselor, coach, and trusted confidant, while also serving as a strategic partner and co-investor. From time to time, he has served as both an investor-sponsored director and an independent director of U.S. privately held companies.

Mr. Rubenstein brings more than 35 years of experience advising financial services companies, business owners, investors, entrepreneurs, and U.S. middle-market companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate development, debt and equity financings, strategic alliances, and distressed investment transactions. His experience encompasses identifying, structuring, negotiating, documenting, and executing complex transactions. Throughout his career, he has negotiated and managed more than 700 transactions.

A developing area of Mr. Rubenstein’s specialization is advising law firms, attorneys, and prospective non-lawyer investors on the distinction between the “practice of law” and the “business of law.” His work in this area focuses particularly on evaluating whether, when, where, and how an MSO or ABS structure may be appropriate, including the strategic and structural considerations associated with such arrangements.

Prior to founding Panacea Capital Advisors in 2011, Mr. Rubenstein served for more than a decade as a senior executive officer and General Counsel of MCG Capital Corporation, a publicly traded investment company. During his tenure, MCG Capital’s portfolio grew from approximately $300 million to nearly $2 billion. His responsibilities included structuring, negotiating, and documenting financing, investment, M&A, and fundraising transactions, as well as overseeing corporate governance matters for MCG Capital and its controlled portfolio companies.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rubenstein practiced law as an attorney and partner at two multinational law firms. His practice focused on corporate, M&A, and commercial investment transactions, as well as regulatory matters involving financial services companies.

Mr. Rubenstein received his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University National Law Center and his Bachelor of Business Administration in Data Processing and Honors Business from The University of Texas.