Sarah Pazar Williams
Biography
Sarah Pazar Williams is a Partner in our Memphis office, with diverse experience in personal injury and insurance defense.
She specializes in health care liability, medical malpractice, nursing home and long-term care defense, general liability and premises liability litigation. She represents hospital systems, individual practitioners, nursing home and long-term care facilities in state and federal court and administrative proceedings. She also represents all manner of businesses in premises liability litigation involving anything from slip/trip-and-falls to negligent security lawsuits.
Sarah was President of the Board of Directors of the Young Lawyers Division of the Memphis Bar Association in 2020 and served on the board from 2017-2021. She is an active mentor to law students and young attorneys through the MBA and as a Barrister with the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court. Sarah served as the co-chair of the Young Lawyer’s Committee for Memphis Area Legal Service’s Campaign for Equal Justice from 2014 to 2016. She has been recognized on the Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star list every year since 2018 and recognized in the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers: One to Watch for 2021. Sarah was selected as one of the Memphis Business Journal’s Best of the Bar: Ace Associate honorees in 2020.
Earlier in her career, Sarah worked with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago, where she planned and executed events that raised money for cancer treatment and research.
Sarah earned her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt Law School, where she served as the Chief Justice of the Vanderbilt Moot Court Board. She worked as a judicial extern for Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla and Magistrate Judge Charmiane G. Claxton, both of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Sarah received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University, with a double major in psychology and communication studies.
Experience
Sarah has assisted a trial team in obtaining a jury defense verdict for a nurse practitioner clinic in Tennessee state court. She obtained a complete dismissal with prejudice on procedural grounds in multiple cases in Tennessee state and federal court, including pharmaceutical liability actions, hospital and nursing liability actions, and premises liability actions.
Sarah has obtained summary judgment for a certified nurse anesthetist defendant in a health care liability lawsuit in Tennessee state court, and she obtained summary judgment in a premises liability lawsuit for a national pharmacy chain in Tennessee state court. Sarah also served on the trial team that obtained a complete defense verdict for an obstetrician in a health care liability birth injury case in Tennessee state court.
Sarah has represented long term care, assisted living, and nursing home facilities in civil litigation, administrative proceedings, and alternative dispute resolution, particularly in the areas of medical malpractice and health care liability lawsuits and involuntary discharge appeals.
Sarah has defended a wide variety of corporate clients in litigation involving personal injury, premises liability, contract issues, and insurance coverage.
In addition to representing hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, and other medical professionals in health care liability actions, Sarah has represented clients in administrative and civil matters involving Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, medical records issues, and EMTALA compliance.
Sarah’s practice focuses on representing acute and sub-acute health care providers in medical malpractice and health care liability lawsuits. She has defended hospitals, nursing and long term care facilities, physicians, and other medical professionals in state and federal court.
Credentials
ADMITTED
- Tennessee, 2012
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 2013
- ourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2013
EDUCATION
- J.D., Vanderbilt University, 2012
- B.S., Northwestern University, 2007
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- American Health Lawyers Association
- Board of Directors, Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, 2017-2021
- DRI
- Memphis Area Legal Services’ Campaign for Equal Justice, 2014-2016 (Chair of Young Lawyer Committee, 2016; Co-Chair of Young Lawyer Committee, 2014-2015)
- Tennessee Bar Association
- President of the Board of Directors, Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, 2020
- Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, 2018
Recognition
- Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice, 2014-2015
- Best Lawyers®, 2021, 2022
- Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch, 2021, 2023
- Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2018-Present
- Best of the Bar: Ace Associate Honorees, Memphis Business Journal, 2020
Presentations
- Navigating Civil Litigation & Pretrial Issues
Memphis Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Division Rookie Lawyer CLE Series, June 2021
Publications
- An Introduction to Tort-Based Healthcare Litigation
ABA Section of Litigation Health Law Committee, 2022