In addition to her law practice, Sarah is the Chief Talent and Inclusion Officer. In that capacity, Sarah is able to pursue her twin passions of educating and mentoring the next generation of young lawyers and working towards greater diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and community.

With respect to professional development, Sarah leads a team dedicated to supporting the development of all Farella attorneys. She is innovative in creating programs to coach, train and mentor attorneys throughout their careers on substantive legal skills as well as teamwork, collaboration and business development. She oversees the associate review and feedback process at the firm.  Sarah allocates all work assignments to litigation associates with a view to supporting an associate’s growth and development as well as meeting client needs.

With respect to diversity and inclusion, Sarah provides strategic leadership to develop Farella's overall strategy and initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion at Farella and in the legal community.  She actively works with firm management to increase, retain and promote the number of women and diverse attorneys and staff at all levels of the firm. She is a member of the firm’s Recruiting, Professional Development, Diversity + Inclusion and Women’s Leadership Committees as well as various taskforces dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Sarah oversees the firm’s Diversity Pipeline Program as well as the Diversity Scholarship Program. Sarah also partners with outside organizations and non-profits that encourage diversity in the legal profession. She welcomes contact with the firm’s clients on diversity and inclusion and often collaborates with the firm’s clients on diversity initiatives and projects.

Prior to joining Farella, Sarah always has been involved in firm management in addition to maintaining a full time practice.  At a prior firm, Sarah was chair and vice chair of the Litigation Department in which she led and managed 50-80 attorneys and all litigation practice groups. Her responsibilities included recruiting and developing attorneys, designing and co-teaching litigation associate training programs, fairly and appropriately allocating all work assignments, conducting all associate performance reviews as well as developing business strategies and monitoring and forecasting financial performance. She also served as the firm’s Pro Bono Director.  At another prior firm of over 800 attorneys, Sarah was global co-chair of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement team and worked to create the firm’s first LGBT Employee Resource Group. She was the only San Francisco partner selected to serve on the firm’s global Futures Committee. At Sarah’s first firm of over 800 attorneys that she joined upon graduation from law school, she became that firm’s first openly gay partner out of over 100 partners. There, she too was active in firm management and served on the Associate Career Development, Diversity, Hiring, Pro Bono and Space (new facility) Committees.

Sarah has engaged in meaningful pro bono work focused on social justice issues throughout her career.