Originally from the Boston area, Sarah’s passion for legal advocacy began when she joined her high school’s nationally recognized mock trial team.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2007, and her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2011.  She competed in national trial advocacy competitions both as an undergraduate and a law student, winning dozens of individual awards.  In 2011 she became the first woman to win the prestigious invitation-only Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition hosted by Baylor Law School.

 

As a law student, Sarah worked as a summer law clerk at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, Netherlands.  She was a founding member of the Yale Law School Criminal Defense Clinic and National Trial Advocacy Team.  She was also the winner of the Thomas Swan Barrister’s Union Mock Trial Competition.

 

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Sarah worked as an intern investigator at the Public Defender Service (PDS) in Washington D.C., and as a staff investigator for the Orleans Public Defender’s Office (OPD).  As an investigator, she learned never to take the prosecution’s case at face value, and that good defense investigation is crucial to zealous representation.

 

Upon graduating law school, Sarah worked as a staff attorney in the trials division of the Orleans Public Defender’s Office.  There, she represented thousands of clients in State Court charged with crimes ranging from misdemeanors to murders.  In 2016, Sarah accepted a contract to work for the 24th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.  Later that year, she joined NFC Law, an elite private criminal defense firm founded by Nandi Campbell, who presently serves as a judge at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.  In 2020, when Judge Campbell was elected to the bench, Sarah founded The Chervinsky Law Firm.

 

In her career, Sarah has handled thousands of State and Federal criminal cases all across Louisiana. She has conducted approximately 50 jury trials and 50 bench trials in her career.  She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA), the New Orleans Bar Association (NOBA), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL), and is licensed to practice in the State of Louisiana and the Federal Eastern District of Louisiana.  She is also an adjunct faculty member at Tulane Law School, where she teaches Trial Advocacy.  She lives in uptown New Orleans with her husband Leon.