AI Governance, Data Privacy and Regulatory Compliance
Samir Bhavsar is one of a small number of lawyers in the United States who holds all three of the International Association of Privacy Professionals' most rigorous practitioner credentials: the Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP), the Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States (CIPP/US), and the Certified Information Privacy Professional for Europe (CIPP/E). That combination of AI governance framework expertise, US domestic regulatory knowledge, and European data protection depth positions him to advise companies navigating the converging demands of AI regulation across jurisdictions.
As a member of Baker Botts' Privacy, Cybersecurity & AI Governance practice, Samir counsels clients on the full spectrum of AI governance and regulatory compliance: assessing AI system risk under emerging legal frameworks, designing and implementing AI governance programs, advising on high-risk AI system obligations under the EU AI Act, and managing AI-related regulatory exposure in operationally complex environments. He is knowledgeable about both the compliance architecture question — how does an organization build a governance program that satisfies its regulatory obligations — and the harder operational question — what happens when an AI system that was supposed to help manage risk instead generates liability.
Samir is a frequent speaker on AI governance at legal and industry conferences, with recent presentations including "Proactive AI Risk Management: Empowering Legal Teams to Navigate and Mitigate Emerging Compliance Challenges" delivered at multiple national forums in 2025 and 2026. Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Technology Law (2023, 2024, 2025), he brings a technical foundation in electrical engineering and computer science to both the AI regulatory analysis and the client advisory work.
Intellectual Property — Full-Service Counsel
Samir is also a nationally recognized intellectual property lawyer and Co-Chair of Baker Botts' Patent Prosecution practice firmwide. His IP practice is deliberately full-service — spanning prosecution, litigation, and licensing — because he believes that portfolio strategy, litigation risk, and transactional exposure are inseparable questions that clients are better served addressing with a single integrated perspective rather than across separate engagements. Clients describe him as a "tech-savvy strategic mastermind" who "leverages his background as chief IP counsel to craft invaluable patent portfolios" (IAM Patent 1000, 2024), and as a partner who "understands the client mentality better than most and applies his considerable faculties in driving quality prosecution, litigation, and licensing outcomes" (IAM Patent 1000, 2021).
His prosecution practice spans semiconductor devices and manufacturing processes, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity, IoT, FinTech, and medical devices. On the litigation side, Samir has handled patent disputes in district courts across the country — with a concentration in the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas and California — as well as Inter Partes and Ex Parte Review proceedings before the USPTO. He also advises clients on patent, software, and technology licensing agreements across inbound and outbound transactions. Samir is recommended in IAM Patent 1000 for Patent Prosecution (2021, 2022, 2024) and recognized as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 U.S. for Patent Prosecution (2010, 2013).
Background
Samir received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is admitted to practice in Texas, before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Federal Circuit, and multiple federal district courts. He has been active in bar leadership and diversity initiatives throughout his career, including serving as President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Intellectual Property Law Association and on committees and steering bodies for the Texas Minority Counsel Program, the Dallas Bar Association, and NAPABA.
AI Governance & Data Privacy
Patent Prosecution & Transactional
Patent Litigation
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Technology Law, 2023, 2024, & 2025
Recommended in IAM Patent 1000 for Patent Prosecution, 2021, 2022, & 2024
Recommended in The Legal 500 U.S. as a "Leading Lawyer" for Patent Prosecution, 2010, & 2013
Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer (Thomson Reuters), 2015, & 2018
Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer-Rising Star (Thomson Reuters), 2006, 2010, & 2012
