Sara K. Harris
- Business Litigation
- Labor & Employment Litigation
- Affirmative Action & Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Appellate | Labor & Employment
- Background Checks
- Discrimination & Harassment Claims
- Employee Whistleblower & Retaliation Claims
- Employment Policies, Procedures, & Handbooks
- Employment Practice Audits
- Governmental Investigations
- Hiring, Performance Management, & Termination
- Labor Management & Traditional Labor Relations
- Non-Compete Issues
- Staffing, Independent Contractors, & Contingent Workers
- Unfair Competition & Trade Secrets
- Wage & Hour
- Workplace Ethics, Compliance, & Investigations
- Workplace Safety & Health
- Workplace Training
Sara Harris’s practice primarily consists of counseling and advising large corporations and employers in a wide variety of state and federal disputes. Sara has experience in many employment and commercial areas, including contract drafting, employment handbooks, workplace dispute prevention, discrimination lawsuits, and the protection of confidential and proprietary information. She helps clients defend lawsuits involving employee competition, theft of trade secrets, wage-and-hour issues, and labor union disputes. Sara has also handled appellate matters in state and federal courts.
Sara’s clients benefit from her experience in a number of practice areas—including labor & employment, commercial litigation, and healthcare—and particularly from her ability to generate pragmatic but creative solutions to problems by drawing on the unique skills these practice areas often require. Sara prides herself on providing efficient and effective results.
B.A., summa cum laude, New York University
- Phi Beta Kappa
J.D., with honors, University of Texas School of Law
- Order of the Coif
Texas, 2012
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Court for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas
In 2015, Sara’s work contributed to a significant and hard-won arbitration victory for a workplace sexual harassment case.
Sara also assisted other JW attorneys with the appeal in JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Borquez, No 05-14-00131-CV (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 3, 2015), which recently resulted in the Dallas Court of Appeals overturning a $4 million-plus verdict against the bank and entering a take-nothing judgment in our client’s favor.
- Young Lawyer Editorial Board, The American Lawyer, 2017-present
- Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court, Associate, 2016–2017
TAL-YL Editorial Board Publishes its First Editorial on Sexual Harassment in the Legal Industry
Fifth Circuit Ruling Emphasizes Importance of Establishing Factual Basis for Compensating Employees Using Fluctuating Workweek Method
Does FEMA Unconstitutionally Deny Relief to Churches? President Trump Thinks So And He May Be Right
Jackson Walker Receives Champion of Justice Law Firm Award for Seventh Consecutive Year
Sara represents both large corporations and small businesses, including healthcare facilities, medical providers, and financial institutions, in matters including class actions, lender liability cases, and contract disputes. She defends employers in federal and state courts and before administrative tribunals. Sara also has experience in healthcare litigation and regulatory matters, including telemedicine, state and federal regulatory compliance, physician employment, entity licensing, and insurance disputes. She also frequently advises clients on FDA issues, including food and drug labeling requirements, medical devices, and cosmetics.
Employment Litigation
Sara has experience defending companies and supervisors in employment-related disputes involving:
- Harassment
- Retaliation
- Discrimination
- Compensation/Stock Option Disputes
- Breach of Employment Contract/Wrongful Termination
Wage-and-Hour Litigation
Sara’s wage-and-hour litigation experience includes collective actions and single-plaintiff lawsuits regarding:
- Unpaid Wages
- Unpaid Overtime
- FLSA retaliation claims
- Employee Misclassification
Employment Counseling
Sara advises employers on day-to-day employment matters. For example, Sara helps employers draft and update employment contracts, policies, handbooks, and noncompete agreements, all with an eye towards avoiding future litigation.
Healthcare
Sara also focuses her healthcare practice on advising healthcare providers including start-up companies, physician-owned entities, surgery centers, and hospitals regarding regulatory compliance and practice issues. Her experience in this area includes:
- Telemedicine
- Laboratory compliance/CLIA
- Stark/Anti-kickback statute compliance
- Physician employment and licensure
- Corporate Practice of Medicine
Food and Drug
Sara assists food, pharmaceutical, medical device, and other entities with issues relating to US Food and Drug Administration and US Drug Enforcement Administration regulation, and with similar issues regulated by state agencies.
Business Litigation
Sara’s business litigation experience includes matters such as class actions involving alleged underpayment of policy benefits by insurers, defending securities claims against financial institutions and brokers; antitrust disputes; prosecuting breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims; and defamation suits.
Sara is also fluent in Spanish.
Practice Experience
In 2015, Sara’s work contributed to a significant and hard-won arbitration victory for a workplace sexual harassment case.
Sara also assisted other JW attorneys with the appeal in JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Borquez, No 05-14-00131-CV (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 3, 2015), which recently resulted in the Dallas Court of Appeals overturning a $4 million-plus verdict against the bank and entering a take-nothing judgment in our client’s favor.
Community Involvement
- Young Lawyer Editorial Board, The American Lawyer, 2017-present
- Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court, Associate, 2016–2017
Areas of Focus
Sara represents both large corporations and small businesses, including healthcare facilities, medical providers, and financial institutions, in matters including class actions, lender liability cases, and contract disputes. She defends employers in federal and state courts and before administrative tribunals. Sara also has experience in healthcare litigation and regulatory matters, including telemedicine, state and federal regulatory compliance, physician employment, entity licensing, and insurance disputes. She also frequently advises clients on FDA issues, including food and drug labeling requirements, medical devices, and cosmetics.
Employment Litigation
Sara has experience defending companies and supervisors in employment-related disputes involving:
- Harassment
- Retaliation
- Discrimination
- Compensation/Stock Option Disputes
- Breach of Employment Contract/Wrongful Termination
Wage-and-Hour Litigation
Sara’s wage-and-hour litigation experience includes collective actions and single-plaintiff lawsuits regarding:
- Unpaid Wages
- Unpaid Overtime
- FLSA retaliation claims
- Employee Misclassification
Employment Counseling
Sara advises employers on day-to-day employment matters. For example, Sara helps employers draft and update employment contracts, policies, handbooks, and noncompete agreements, all with an eye towards avoiding future litigation.
Healthcare
Sara also focuses her healthcare practice on advising healthcare providers including start-up companies, physician-owned entities, surgery centers, and hospitals regarding regulatory compliance and practice issues. Her experience in this area includes:
- Telemedicine
- Laboratory compliance/CLIA
- Stark/Anti-kickback statute compliance
- Physician employment and licensure
- Corporate Practice of Medicine
Food and Drug
Sara assists food, pharmaceutical, medical device, and other entities with issues relating to US Food and Drug Administration and US Drug Enforcement Administration regulation, and with similar issues regulated by state agencies.
Business Litigation
Sara’s business litigation experience includes matters such as class actions involving alleged underpayment of policy benefits by insurers, defending securities claims against financial institutions and brokers; antitrust disputes; prosecuting breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims; and defamation suits.
Sara is also fluent in Spanish.
- Business Litigation
- Labor & Employment Litigation
- Affirmative Action & Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Appellate | Labor & Employment
- Background Checks
- Discrimination & Harassment Claims
- Employee Whistleblower & Retaliation Claims
- Employment Policies, Procedures, & Handbooks
- Employment Practice Audits
- Governmental Investigations
- Hiring, Performance Management, & Termination
- Labor Management & Traditional Labor Relations
- Non-Compete Issues
- Staffing, Independent Contractors, & Contingent Workers
- Unfair Competition & Trade Secrets
- Wage & Hour
- Workplace Ethics, Compliance, & Investigations
- Workplace Safety & Health
- Workplace Training