skip to main content
START MY ESTATE PLAN

Team

Sarah Shea

Partner

Sarah Shea

Partner

Sarah Shea is a Shea Law attorney who also serves as the firm’s client relations manager and general manager of Shea’s estate planning practice. Sarah divides her time between Shea Law’s national litigation practice and its estate planning business. When not helping litigate cases, Sarah works closely with Shea COO, John Shea, to create, implement, and adjust the firm’s estate planning processes, as well as coordinate with Shea’s institutional clients. Her responsibilities include managing the growth of Shea’s expanding online estate planning program—which gives clients the flexibility to be able to utilize online tools and virtual attorney meetings to create a customized estate plan from the comfort of their own home—and helping to manage attorney training for new hires.

As part of Shea Law’s complex litigation practice, Sarah has been a member of the leadership team that secured an approximately $500 million settlement on behalf of students and student-athletes who suffered institutional sexual abuse at the University of Michigan and has been involved in major class action suits against Michigan counties for the unconstitutional taking of millions of dollars from homeowners through unauthorized tax foreclosures.

Prior to joining Shea Law, PLLC in 2021, Sarah worked at a major international law firm in New York City where she represented companies and individuals in complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts. Sarah has experience defending public companies facing both civil litigation and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations and enforcement matters. Sarah also maintains an active pro bono practice and has represented clients in various immigration proceedings, including petitions for asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile status.

Sarah graduated from the University of Michigan in 2016 with honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies. She earned her Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School in May of 2019. During law school, Sarah focused her concentration on general civil litigation, including interning for the New York Attorney General in New York City and representing children and parents in trial court cases at the University of Michigan’s Child Advocacy Law Clinic. She also served as a Congressional intern in Washington D.C. for Michigan’s 11th congressional district; and as a Campaign Administrator to The Honorable Carl Marlinga.

Outside of work, Sarah enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and trying new restaurants in the Metro Detroit area.

It’s been such a genuine pleasure—and somewhat of a surprise—to discover that estate planning is actually one of the most gratifying and rewarding areas of the law. After spending years in litigation, this is the first time I’ve consistently experienced this kind of ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling in the practice of law. The fact that I get to work every day with my family (both literally and figuratively) in a business that in turn helps provide the kind of accessible estate planning services that allows others to protect those they love, is a gift that I don’t take for granted.

Locations

Southfield

Bar Admissions

Memberships: State Bar of New York, State Bar of Arizona

Prior Experience:

  • Attorney for Jones Day in New York
  • Legal Intern for the New York State Attorney General in New York City
  • Congressional Intern in Washington D.C. for Michigan’s 11th congressional district; Campaign Administrator to The Honorable Carl Marlinga

Practice Areas

Litigation
Estate Planning

Education

Graduate Education: University of Michigan Law School, 2019, JD

Undergraduate Education: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, 2016, B.A. Political Science and International Studies with Highest Distinction

High School Education: Detroit Country Day School, 2012 with honors