Sara M. Davis

Sara Davis wasted no time in making an impression. As a young attorney just recently out of law school, Sara in 2007 defended the lead target of litigation stemming from a salmonella outbreak during the Taste of Chicago.

Sara faced a courtroom filled with dozens of attorneys representing the injured plaintiffs.This included legal stars from some of the most prominent law firms in Chicago.

Retired Judge John Ward said that the case looked like a mismatch. But Sara surprised everyone. Ward said that this young personal injury specialist matched with skill, calm and grace the pleadings, motions and arguments made by the seasoned attorneys on the other side. The plaintiffs one by one settled for modest amounts, thanks to Sara’s courtroom performance.

“The common reaction to the court proceedings was not along the lines of ‘Sara Davis is a great young attorney,’ but rather ‘Sara Davis is a great attorney,’” Ward said.

After taking the defense bar by storm Sara decided to switch to the plaintiff bar, where her peers say today she ranks as one of the brightest and most dedicated personal injury attorneys in the city.

Sara’s stellar reputation, earned through a long string of successful verdicts and settlements, explains why she was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2014 and 2015, and why she was nominated for Illinois State Bar Association’s 2014 Young Lawyer of the Year.

Brian Thomas, with Chicago law firm Thomas Law, points to a result Sara obtained in Lake County, Illinois. Sara represented a client with medical damages significantly less than the non- economic compensation sought. After the defense attorney stated in his opening arguments that the past medical treatment was related to the occurrence, Sara did not introduce the exact figure of the past medical bills and instead made a motion for directed finding at the close of evidence. The judge granted it, and because those bills then became a non-issue for the jury, its members never had the chance to look at the comparatively smaller amount of bills when they determined non-economic damages and Sara’s client still received compensation for the past medical expenses on top of the jury’s award.

Sara earned a verdict for her client well above $400,000. Thomas says that this verdict would have been difficult to earn if the jury members had seen the client’s actual medical bills.This was not Sara’s largest victory but a great example of her ability to strategize to maximize recovery for her clients.

“Like athletes who see the game slower, Sara’s view of the practice is much different from any lawyer I have encountered,” Thomas said. “Litigation and trial practice comes much more easily to her. She has been an excellent resource for my own practice. I regularly go to her to get her thoughts on issues I have with my cases.”

Sara has also distinguished herself outside of the courtroom. She is co-chair of the Judiciary Evaluation Committee for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois and is a mentor for law students and new attorneys. She is involved, too, with her church, Grace Place Episcopal Church in the South Loop. Sara is part of the church’s monthly Night Ministry committee, in which she and other volunteers feed dinner to the underprivileged in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.