Sarah L. Tufano

My focus

I represent clients in complex commercial and business disputes across a variety of industries, including transportation, healthcare, real estate, and banking and financial services. I also represent and counsel clients involved in government investigations, as well as governmental entities and municipalities in civil litigation. My background includes researching and drafting dispositive motions for litigations in federal and state court; coordinating discovery review and responding to discovery requests; preparing and conducting witness interviews; and advocating in court through oral arguments, hearings, and trials.

I also serve on the firm’s pro bono committee and maintain an active pro bono practice focused on immigration, criminal justice, civil rights, and other human rights issues.

In addition to my work at NP, I am actively involved in the Rochester community. I am a guest lecturer at St. John Fisher University School of Business, where I teach an MBA course focused on commercial law topics. Additionally, I serve as the membership chair on the board of the Monroe County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section, and on the Board of Trustees of Young Women’s College Prep, a charter school in Rochester.

Before joining NP, I clerked for the Hon. Timothy J. Savage in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. I also worked as a litigator at another firm. During law school, I interned in the Asia-Pacific Section of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, where I researched and drafted secretary general reports and petitions to states regarding their compliance with international human rights law. Additionally, I served as an executive editor of the Journal of Law and Social Change, as well as a member of my law school’s Moot Court Board and International Arbitration Moot Court Team.

Representative experience

Sarah joined Nixon Peabody in October 2021. The representative work set forth below may reflect experience from prior firms.

• Represents defendants in disputes arising under wide-ranging statutory schemes, including the False Claims Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Alien Tort Statute, the Sherman Act, and other state and federal statutes
• Represents plaintiffs and defendants in class actions and shareholder disputes in Delaware Chancery Court
• Represents defendants in commercial disputes in federal and state courts and arbitration across various industries, including real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, banking and financial services, transportation, food and agriculture, and technology
• Represents local municipalities in code enforcement matters
• Represents individuals in criminal asset forfeiture matters
• Represents pro bono clients in asylum, naturalization, and humanitarian parole proceedings
• Represented family from Afghanistan in their immigration court proceedings, successfully winning them asylum status
• Represented incarcerated individual alleging civil rights violations in seven-day federal jury trial
• Represented corporations, investment firms, and banks in complex commercial and bankruptcy litigation matters
• Represented a large international transportation company in a joint investigation by the New York Attorney General and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Represented a major automaker in connection with the successful reorganization of a large auto parts manufacturer

Clerkships

• Hon. Timothy J. Savage, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2019–2021

Looking ahead

With the rising costs of litigation, it is increasingly important to focus on the heart of an issue and resolve cases outside of the courtroom, enabling clients to achieve cost-effective dispute resolutions.

Insights

• “The Holy Trinity of the UN Universal Periodic Review: How to Make an Effective Recommendation Regarding Women’s Rights,” 21 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 187 (2018)