Sam Totino is a Partner in Calfee’s Corporate and Capital Markets practice group, advising clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and sales of their businesses, and he is also a member of the firm's Tax and Public Finance practice groups.
Sam’s corporate and M&A practice focuses on counseling public and privately owned companies with respect to transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions and a wide range of general corporate and business matters such as equity offerings and commercial contracts.
Sam serves all types of clients, whether start-ups, closely held family businesses, private equity firms or multinational public companies, in a broad range of industries, including health care, energy, chemicals and consumer products.
Sam has worked on a wide variety of merger and acquisition transactions, representing both buyers and sellers, including numerous privately owned companies and public companies such as RPM International Inc., Align Capital Partners, Chart Industries, Inc., Invacare Corporation, Linsalata Capital Partners, Watervale Equity Partners, Ferro Corporation, Cache Creek Industries, The W.W. Williams Company, LLC and The Lincoln Electric Company.
Through his representation of A&A Management Group, a talent management company providing brand, image and business and personal management services to professional athletes in the NFL and NBA (some of which include Travis Kelce, Mitchell Schwartz and Denzel Ward), Sam also has significant experience in negotiating business opportunities and arrangements for A&A’s high-profile athlete clients.
Additionally, as a member of Calfee’s Tax practice group, Sam regularly advises both public and privately owned companies on federal, state and local tax issues in corporate transactions. His tax practice is specifically devoted to assisting clients in structuring tax-efficient transactions from formation through dissolution.
Sam also has significant experience with counseling nonprofit organizations with respect to all manners of issues, including those related to formation and ongoing operations.
Sam is also a member of Calfee’s Public Finance group and regularly counsels governmental issuers, 501(c)(3) entities and underwriters with respect to tax issues related to the issuance of tax-exempt bonds, including the arbitrage and rebate rules and private business use.
Sam is a regular presenter at the annual Cleveland Tax Institute as well as a member of the Tax Club of Cleveland.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of COAR Peace Mission, an organization dedicated to supporting a children’s village for disadvantaged youth in El Salvador.
He received a B.S.B.A., summa cum laude, Master of Accounting and J.D., summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University.
Sam began his tenure at Calfee in 2012 and has served as a member of the firm's Hiring Committee.
Contact & Links
- E-mail: stotino@calfee.com
- Direct Phone Number: 216-622-8331
- Phone Number: 216-622-8200
- Lawyer Page: https://www.calfee.com/professionals-salvatore-j-totino
Location
- The Calfee Building
1405 East Sixth Street
Cleveland, OH 44114-1607
Education
- The Ohio State University, J.D., graduated 2012
- The Ohio State University, Master of Accounting, graduated 2009
- The Ohio State University, B.S.B.A., graduated 2009
Bar Admissions
- United States, Ohio
Affiliations
- Cleveland Tax Institute - Frequent Presenter
- Tax Club of Cleveland - Member
- COAR Peace Mission - Member of the Board of Directors
- Cleveland Pops Orchestra - Member of the Board of Directors
48 The Best Lawyers in America® awards
23 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America awards

Recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America 2023 for work in:
- Tax Law
Awards:
- The Best Lawyers in America©: Ones To Watch, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2021-2022)
- Ohio Super Lawyers, Ohio Rising Stars (2018, 2021-2022)
- Best Lawyers in Ohio for Tax Law (2023)
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Corporate Law
- Corporate Law
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Publications
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