Sarah Wake

Practice Areas

Sarah Wake is a skilled litigator with extensive experience representing and counseling corporations and institutions of higher education. Sarah represents her clients on issues related to faculty tenure and promotion; student and employee unionization efforts; discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct policy, investigations, and hearings; Title IX compliance; athletics (including NCAA Division I compliance issues and name, image, and likeness); admissions; student conduct; affirmative action in employment and admissions; diversity and inclusion; the Clery Act; the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); and physical and digital accessibility.

Sarah also has significant experience defending corporations in connection with a variety of employment-related claims, and routinely conducts high-profile and sensitive internal investigations.

Sarah previously worked in legal and compliance roles at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and at the University of Notre Dame. At Northwestern, she was an active member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I Committee on Infractions, and an inaugural member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.

Sarah also served as a law clerk for the United States Attorney’s Office and as an intern in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.