As a member of the Litigation Section, Sarah's practice focuses primarily in the areas of business, tort, construction and commercial landlord tenant litigation. She represents contractors, material suppliers, as well as owners and developers in a variety of construction disputes. As part of her litigation practice, Sarah represents individuals, local businesses, and national corporations involved in a variety of litigation matters.
Representative Experience
Benton v. Lally et. al, (2010) – Represented custom home builder in a negligence action arising from an injury on a construction site. The plaintiff, an employee of a framing subcontractor, was seriously injured when he fell through a first-floor hole onto a concrete basement floor. The plaintiff alleged that the client-builder knew that a dangerous condition existed on the site and failed to take reasonable steps to minimize the danger. At the time of the accident, the framers were the only workers on site. At trial, the undisputed evidence showed that plaintiff’s employer was aware of the alleged danger and warned all the other framing employees, but failed to warn plaintiff, who was new to the site. Absent an exception, in North Carolina there is no duty for the general contractor to keep a job site safe for the employees of subcontractors. The builder also denied knowing of the alleged danger. After a week-long trial, the Plaintiff asked the jury for over $750,000 in damages. Finding in favor of the client-builder, the jury found the client was not negligent and awarded the plaintiff nothing. The court also awarded litigation expenses to client.
Prior Legal Experience
Prior to joining Poyner Spruill, Sarah worked for the firms of York Williams Barringer Lewis & Briggs, LLP and Dickie McCamey & Chilcote. While in law school, Sarah clerked for a civil litigation firm in Atlanta. Sarah was also a certified civil mediator and mediated hundreds of landlord tenant disputes in Fulton County, Georgia.