Awards & Rankings 08.17.23
Best Lawyers Recognizes 193 Pillsbury Lawyers in Latest Guide
Among the honorees are 8 Lawyers of the Year and 55 Ones to Watch
Source: The Best Lawyers Guides
I entrust our challenging cases and investigations to Sarah because she is more than a skilled and tenacious litigator—she is practical and strategic, has sound judgment, and cost-effectively delivers excellent results.
Sarah Flanagan, a Pillsbury partner, counsels clients on complex claims and disputes, and has won precedent-setting cases in the education, health care and energy areas.
As primary counsel in jury and court trials, appellate proceedings, arbitrations, mediations, agency proceedings and government investigations, Sarah has handled a variety of education, health care, commercial and environmental law disputes and class actions, and has served as counsel for joint defense groups. She has deep experience in issues related to privacy breaches, unfair business practices, price-fixing, Title IX, employment discrimination and retaliation, faculty tenure, sponsored research, environmental contamination and the Endangered Species Act.
Representative Experience
- First-chaired successful mandamus trial of a challenge to a power plant’s discharge permit, and argued case on appeal, securing unanimous California Supreme Court decision establishing favorable law for the industry.
- Led the defense of a hospital in a patient class action involving a high-profile privacy breach related to the work of a vendor, achieving a favorable settlement.
- Handling a variety of Title IX matters for a university, from advising on individual student discipline cases to handling a class action audit by the Office of Civil Rights.
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- Defended a university and its hospitals in contract disputes and a variety of student, employee and faculty claims, as well as in health care privacy breach cases and environmental citizen suits.
- Successfully mediated numerous consumer class actions, employment disputes and environmental cost recovery actions, and has settled a variety of other business disputes.
Professional Highlights
- Received Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 as part of Corporate Counsel’s Women, Influence & Power in Law (WIPL) Awards.
- Recognized by Best Lawyers (published by BL Rankings LLC) in Commercial Litigation (2014 – 2024) and by Super Lawyers (2015 – 2017).
- Honored in 2014 with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Robert G. Sproul Jr. Award for providing outstanding legal representation and marshaling firm resources for under-represented communities.
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- Founding chair of the Managing Board’s Committee on Advancement of Women Attorneys (2008 – 2020); chair, Education team (2005 to 2020); elected to several terms on the firm’s managing board (1993 – 1994, 1995 – 1996 and 2006 – 2009); managing partner, Professional Resources and Practice (1995 – 1996); co-leader, firmwide Litigation section (2001 – 2003); and leader, San Francisco Litigation section (1998 – 2004).
- Professional and Community Activities
- Board member, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (2005 – 2013).
- Board president, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (Northern California), 2010, after serving on that board and holding other leadership positions for the preceding 10 years.
- Chair, Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the Northern District of California (2010).
- Co-chair, the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives for the Northern District of California (2008 – 2009).
Education
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J.D., University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1976
Order of the CoifLL.M., Georgetown University Law Center, 1978
two-year Carnegie Corporation Fellowship to supervise law students in clinical education program serving military veteransB.A., Stanford University, 1973
Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
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California
District of Columbia
Courts
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Military Appeals
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. Tax Court
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Supreme Court of California
District of Columbia Court of Appeals