Sarah T. Berard
Senior Counsel

Contact

Biography

Sarah Berard is an attorney in Smith Haughey Rice and Roegge’s medical malpractice defense practice group.

Sarah focuses her practice on defending hospitals, physicians, nurses, physician’s assistants, nursing homes, and other health care professionals involved in medical malpractice litigation. She has also worked for a national health system as a claims manager, giving her additional insights into the industry that she defends.

Sarah has experience handling complex critical care cases in addition to oncology, emergency medicine, wound care, orthopedic surgery, general nursing, and other claims. Her experience includes alternative dispute resolution proceedings and all phases of litigation, including trial. In addition, she counsels and presents on EHR/EMR concerns, including patient confidentiality and HIPAA issues, as well as patient guardianship issues.

Outside of defending health care professionals, Sarah successfully defends corporations and individuals in lawsuits alleging premises liability, employment, and general liability. Sarah graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in anthropology and earned her J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Admitted

State Bar of Michigan, 2007

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 2007

Education

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (J.D., 2007)

University of Michigan (B.A., 2000)

Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan

Washtenaw County Bar Association, Member

Michigan Society of Healthcare Risk Managers, Member

Michigan Medicine, University Hospital and Cardiovascular Center Executive Committee, Patient and Family Advisor

Michigan Medicine, University Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Council, Patient and Family Advisor

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center's Patient and Family Advisory Council, E-Advisor

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center's Patient and Family Advisory Board, Founding Former Board Member and Governance Officer

Jewish Family Service’s Mentor Connection, Former Youth Mentor, Mentor of the Year