Sarah Burns

Associate

T 213.633.6808 San Francisco
I believe in truth and your right to uncover and tell it.
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Sarah Burns is a member of the firm's media group where she defends against defamation claims, fights government secrecy, and provides pre-broadcast review for content of all kinds.

Sarah's practice also includes copyright, trademark, privacy, and right-of-publicity litigation, and protecting journalists and production companies against subpoenas.

Prior to practicing law, Sarah worked as a newspaper editor.

Practice Highlights

Defamation/Anti-SLAPP

Defending journalists, authors, and media companies against libel, privacy, right-of-publicity, and newsgathering claims.

Public records & access lawsuits

Litigating public records lawsuits to make public information about: police misconduct throughout California following California's passage of S.B. 1421 and S.B. 16, including successful lawsuits against the California Attorney General, California Highway Patrol, BART, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Other public records wins include a settlement with the City of Los Angeles forcing the release of information showing failing homelessness policies and an investigation into the City of Vallejo showing officials destroyed records of controversial police shootings and misclassified cases where citizens died following serious police force as accidental deaths.

Pre-broadcast and IP counseling

Providing pre-broadcast defamation, fair use, and privacy counseling,for newspapers, documentaries, podcasts, and scripted television. Recent projects include "Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal," "America's Most Wanted", "In The Know," "Invincible," "Smiling Friends," "Yolo," and others.

Admitted to Practice

  • California, 2018
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, 2018
    • Order of the Coif
    • Statue of Justice, Order of Barristers, 2018
    • Champion, Roscoe Pound Moot Court, 2017
    • Co-chair, Homelessness Prevention Clinic
  • B.A., English Language and Literature, University of California, Berkeley, 2014, with Honors

Background

    • Litigation Associate, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Los Angeles, 2018-2020
    • Summer Associate, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Los Angeles, 2017
    • Research Assistant to Professor Richard Re, UCLA, Los Angeles, 2016-2017
    • Judicial Extern, Hon. Kim McLane Wardlaw, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Pasadena, Calif., 2016
    • Digital Editor, The Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas, 2014-2015
    • Editor-in-Chief and President, The Daily Californian, Berkeley, Calif., 2013-2014
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