Biography:
Sarah gained extensive litigation experience early in her legal career defending clients in personal injury and property damage cases where she conducted more than 100 arbitrations, negotiated numerous settlements, and tried over 25 bench and jury trials to verdict.  Since joining BRG, Sarah has handled numerous direct defense actions involving personal injury and legal malpractice and has also defended insurance carriers and  in several multi-million dollar actions involving land use and zoning, civil rights violations, environmental issues and bad faith.  Sarah has also represented carriers as plaintiffs in arbitration matters in other states and jurisdictions.
 
In 2006, Sarah assisted in representing a national carrier against a large third party administrator at arbitration and successfully obtained an award for the full amount of damages in excess of $500,000 plus interest in favor of the carrier.

That same year, in December of 2006, Sarah assisted in winning a two week trial involving an environmental policy issued by a national insurance carrier.  The trial was heard before Judge Ramos in the First Department of the New York Supreme Court, Wells Fargo v. Zurich, Index No. 601562/05.  At trial, the insured argued that it had incurred over $12 million in damages as a result of a loss in the fair market value of the property caused by environmental contamination.  Alternatively, the insured argued that its damages were $6.25 million for the amount of clean-up costs incurred.  After discrediting the plaintiff’s experts and evidence, Sarah and her trial team established that the insured was entitled to zero dollars in damages.


Sarah also assisted in successfully obtaining a $6.2 million award in 2008 following a lengthy three week arbitration in Tampa, Florida on behalf of an insurance carrier in a matter involving legal malpractice by the insured’s retained counsel.
 
Recently, in 2010, Sarah assisted in obtaining a landmark ruling on behalf of a national carrier from Judge Karen Smith of the Supreme Court of New York in a case involving millions in damages as a result of the multiple deaths, personal injuries and property damage from a 2008 crane collapse in New York City.  In this case of first impression, Judge Smith extinguished the carrier’s duty to defend its named insured and additional insureds despite the existence of other related unsettled and pending actions.

Education:
Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., high honors, 2000.
Concordia University, M.A, high honors, 1994.
Concordia University, B.A, cum laude, 1990 (Kappa Delta Pi, Alpha Kappa Delta).

Awards:
Order of the Coif, Chicago-Kent Merit Scholar.
CALI awards: Commercial Law Payment Systems, Family Law, Business Organizations.

Admissions:

Illinois Bar, 2000.

Federal Court: Northern District of Illinois, 2000; Central District of Illinois, 2009.

Other Interests:
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney's Office:  Law Clerk, Civil Actions Bureau (1999).

Judicial Externships: Judge Blanche M. Manning, Northern District of Illinois (1999), Judge George W. Lindberg, Northern District of Illinois (2000).

Certified Cook County Arbitrator (since 2004).