Sara J. Schroeder
- E sschroeder@taftlaw.com
- T (312) 836-4152
- F (312) 527-4011
Summary
Sara is a staff attorney in Taft’s Chicago office and focuses her practice on commercial and complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on municipal and constitutional law. She has a proven track record of developing and implementing winning legal strategies – in state, federal, and appellate courts – tailored to the client’s specific needs.
Prior to joining Taft, Sara was a senior associate attorney at a regional firm in Chicago, where she counseled clients in high-profile civil rights lawsuits that were routinely featured in the national news. Despite the notoriety of these lawsuits, Sara created winning legal strategies – based on her legal knowledge and her pre-law profession as a media relations advisor to C-Suite executives – that navigated her clients through depositions, judicial hearings, and the court of public opinion. Her keen understanding of civil procedure and constitutional law secured winning court rulings, favorable appellate decisions, and pragmatic settlement mediations and negotiations for her clients.
Sara was also volunteer attorney for the Settlement Assistance Program where she garnered a top settlement amount for her pro bono client, a single father and his child, who lost a significant amount of their personal property as a result of an alleged wrongful eviction. Her client filed a federal civil rights lawsuit without the benefit of counsel, and Sara volunteered to review and represent him in the settlement aspect of his case. Her compelling demand letters, negotiations with opposing counsel, and effective mediation skills during the court settlement conference procured a handsome settlement that enabled her client to re-furnish his home for him and his son.
Sara’s ability to instill confidence and navigate clients through lawsuits is also informed by her wide range of courtroom experience gained during her legal internships for the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois, and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she was a member of several trial teams, and her judicial externships for the Hon. Justice Daniel J. Pierce, Illinois Appellate Court, First District, and the Hon. Sharon Johnson Coleman, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.
Sara earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where she graduated near the top of her class, was awarded Best Brief and Best Oralist in the Fred F. Herzog Moot Court Competition, attained five academic scholarships, and was a member of The John Marshall Law Review. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Toledo.
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Education
- University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (2016)
- The University of Toledo (1993)
B.A. – Communications
Admissions
- State - Illinois
Professional Affiliations
- Chicago Bar Association
Member