Sara received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University in 1988. Part of that degree was completed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sara received her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, Common Law Section in 1992. She was called to the Bar in 1994. Sara is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Lincoln County Law Association. She is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association – Municipal and Environmental Law Sections.
Sara is a senior partner at Sullivan Mahoney LLP and has been with the firm since her articles in 1992. She is the Chair of the firm’s Municipal Law Practice Group.
Sara’s practice focuses on municipal and land use matters, as well as administrative and regulatory matters. Sara appears regularly before municipal councils, committees of council, administrative tribunals such as the Ontario Land Tribunal, as well as the Superior Court and Provincial Offences Court.
Sara’s experience in Provincial Offences Court both as defence counsel and as a prosecutor is extensive. She regularly defends planning, heritage, environmental, occupational health & safety and other regulatory offences on behalf of clients, and is responsible for the prosecution of municipal by-law and provincial offences, including matters under the Planning Act, Building Code Act and the Fire Protection and Prevention Act for several municipalities.
Sara also has broad and extensive experience in by-law drafting, municipal governance and licencing, and with freedom of information legislation both on behalf of municipalities, police boards and private clients.
Sara was a part-time instructor of Environmental Law at Niagara College for five (5) years. She taught a post-graduate program that specialized in the environmental assessment process also with an emphasis on the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act.
Sara has been involved in numerous Coroner’s Inquests representing the interests of major public agencies.
Sara, as an associate at Sullivan Mahoney, was a federal prosecutor for the Attorney General of Canada for six years in the late 1990’s.
EDUCATION
- Admitted to Ontario Bar – 1994
- LL.B, University of Ottawa Law School – 1992
- B.Comm, Carleton University in Ottawa with a portion of the degree completed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst – 1988
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Former part-time instructor of Environmental Law at Niagara College
- Guest Lecturer before the Municipal Law Enforcement Officers Association (by-law enforcement)
ASSOCIATIONS
- Member – Law Society of Ontario
- Member – Lincoln County Law Association
- Member – Canadian Bar Association – Environmental Law Section
