SARAH M. SHALF
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Apart from her litigation activities, Sarah is a member of the Executive and Litigation Committees of the Technology Section of the Georgia Bar. She helped establish the Georgia Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society, and is a member of its Executive Committee, serving as its Chair from 2004 - 2008. She has been a member of Election Protection’s Georgia Legal Committee since the 2004 General Election, overseeing its Georgia hotline, handling media inquiries and working with election officials to resolve problems at polling places. She also served as a writing consultant to the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Health Sciences Policy in its preparation of its report regarding DHHS regulations for protection of prisoners involved in medical research, published by National Academies Press in 2006.
The most recent edition of Benchmark Litigation listed Sarah as “Highly recommended” for technology litigation in trademark, patent and trade secrets issues. She was also recognized for her E-Discovery work on technology related cases.In August 2006, the Fulton County Daily Report recognized Sarah as one of 14 Atlanta area lawyers under 40 and “On the Rise,” and she was also named a 2006 Georgia “Rising Star” Super Lawyer, placing her in the top 2.5 percent of all Georgia lawyers under 40.
Representative Cases
- Representing an internet advertising company in defense of copyright, trademark and related claims in multidistrict litigation brought by plaintiff companies who claimed the advertiser was misusing their trade names and violating rights in their Web sites.
- Representing a telecom company to investigate and litigate racketeering and fraud claims against a contractor for commercial bribery.
- Acting as local/litigation counsel for a brand-name pharmaceutical company in defense of ANDA patent challenges brought by multiple generic pharmaceutical companies.
- Successfully defending, in a jury trial, the officers of a nursing home company in defense of fraud and racketeering claims brought by directors/shareholders who sought over $370 million.
- Representing Martha Burk in litigation culminating in Burk v. Augusta-Richmond County, 365 F.3d 1247 (11th Cir. 2004), in which the Eleventh Circuit upheld Martha Burk’s First Amendment challenge to the protest ordinance in effect at the 2003 Masters Tournament.
- Representing amicus the ARC of Georgia in Sims v. the State, 279 Ga. 389 (Ga. 2005), in which the Georgia Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a defendant with an I.Q. of 45 on the ground that a jury should not have found him competent to stand trial.
Education & Background
University of Virginia (B.A., with distinction 1994) Phi Beta Kappa
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (M.S. in Mathematics, 1996)
University of Virginia (J.D., 2001)
Order of the Coif
Margaret Hyde Award
Virginia Law Review, Executive Editor, 2000-01
Moot Court Board, Justice 2000-01
Virginia Law Weekly: Managing Editor, 1999-2000, Senior Editor 2000-01
Clerkship
Law Clerk to the Honorable Frank M. Hull, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2001-02
Publications
Co-author, with Richard Redding, “The Legal Context of School Violence: Effectiveness of Federal, State & Local Law Enforcement Measures to Reduce Gun Violence in Schools,” Law & Policy, 23(3), 297-343 (2001)
“Legal Liability Issues Concerning Pre-Adjudicatory Drug Testing of Detained Individuals,” U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, NCJ 183500 (1999)
Bar Admissions
State Bar of Georgia, 2001
United States Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 5th Circuit and Federal Circuit
U.S. District Courts, Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia and Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals
Memberships
American Bar Association
Atlanta Bar Association
Technology Association of Georgia
American Constitution Society
Lawyers Club of Atlanta
