Bio
Sarah knows how the judges in the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit think. She’s spent several years around them, first interning as a law student and then clerking after earning her J.D. That’s where Sarah first honed her skills in litigation, legal research, opinion writing, and trial and case management. Couple that with Sarah’s considerable experience as an elementary school teacher and tutor, and you’ve got a powerful, civic-minded litigator with the ability to command the room and make difficult concepts accessible to a fifth grader.
Sarah defends large companies and organizations against class and individual allegations of fraud, conspiracy, statutory violations, and breach of contract. She has also participated in qui tam and PCI-DSS compliance investigations and litigated on behalf of cybersecurity and medical device companies seeking to protect their trade secrets.
Experience
Clerkships
Hon. Jorge L. Alonso, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2016-2017)
Hon. Geraldine Soat Brown, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2014 2016)
Hon. Michael T. Mason, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2014)
Judicial Extern – Hon. Ronald Guzman, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2011)
Judicial Extern – Hon. Ann Claire Williams, Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2011)
Judicial Extern – Hon. Morton Denlow, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2010)
Representative Engagements
- Part of the team that obtained favorable decision in Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of Fortune 500 company, affirming trial court's grant of summary judgment on civil conspiracy claim.
- Part of the team that defended national health care network in preliminary injunction and administrative proceedings concerning the closure of one of the network's hospitals.
- Part of the team that obtained preliminary injunction for Fortune 500 Company in trade secret misappropriation case on inevitable disclosure theory.
- Part of the team that defended Fortune 50 company in certified federal RICO class action where claimed damages were $9 billion.
- Part of the team that obtained dismissal of Title IX complaint against major private university.
- Part of the team that obtained dismissal of consumer fraud class action against major airline.
Credentials
Education
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D., 2013, cum laude
Honors at Entrance Scholarship
CALI Awards in Legal Writing and Education Litigation
Senior Editor, Children's Legal Rights Journal
Contracts Academic Tutor
Legal Writing Research Assistant
University of Notre Dame, M.Ed., 2006
University of Notre Dame, B.A., 2004
Bar Admissions
Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
Professional Memberships
Chicago Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Honors & Awards
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (Insurance Law, 2022 Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions-Defendants, 2021-2022), Best Lawyers®
JTB 5 Under 40, Just The Beginning - A Pipeline Organization (2021)
Publications & Presentations
“Amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act Imposes Significant Restrictions on Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Agreements,” (co-author) Illinois State Bar Association’s Bench & Bar Newsletter (January 2022, vol. 52, no. 4)
Community Service
Crisis Text Line, Crisis Counselor and Legal Advisory Board Member