Sara Shanahan

Practice Areas

Sara Jane Shanahan is Sherin and Lodgen's Managing Partner.

Her practice focuses on complex business litigation and insurance coverage disputes. She represents a diverse range of clients, including investment managers, property owners, national retailers, insurers, insureds, and shareholders of closely-held corporations.

Prior to joining Sherin and Lodgen, Sara was partner at Griesinger, Tighe, & Maffei, LLP and junior partner at Hale and Dorr LLP. After law school, Sara clerked for the Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts.

Outside the firm, Sara is an active contributor to the legal and charitable communities. She has held various leadership positions with the Boston Bar Association, including Council Member and co-chair of the Administration of Justice Section, and served on the Women’s Bar Association’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. Sara is also a regular speaker and contributor to programs for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (MCLE), and teaches in the Trial Advocacy Workshop during winter term at Harvard Law School. Additionally, she has served on the Board of Directors for the Wellesley Club, is a member of the Massachusetts Advisory Council of The New England Legal Foundation, and was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for Ursuline Academy in Dedham, MA.

Professional Memberships

Boston Bar Foundation Society of Fellows

Boston Bar Association (Council, Member, elected to serve three-year term, Fall 2013 – Summer 2016, Administration of Justice Section, Co-chair, Fall 2011 – Summer 2014, Member, 2009 – 2014)

International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)

Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments (2014 – 2020)

Litigation Counsel of America (Senior Fellow)

Women’s Bar Association (Women’s Leadership Initiative, 2017 – 2018)

Education