A Chat with Sara Cooksey, Supervising Paralegal at the ACLU of Northern California | Virtual Watercooler Chat Episode 19

This episode of Virtual Water Cooler Chat features Sara Cooksey, Supervising Paralegal at the ACLU of Northern California.  In her role with the ACLU, Sara provides oversight, training, and mentorship to the legal professional team and operational support for the Legal-Policy Department. Additionally, she supports active litigation in the Criminal Justice space.    Prior to joining the ACLU of Northern California, Sara worked in civil and criminal litigation, transactional business law, and probate law. Most recently, she served as a supervisory paralegal and eDiscovery technician at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where she supported complex civil and criminal litigation. During that time, Sara was part of a small team that investigated two large U.S. banks for their role in the 2008 financial collapse. These investigations resulted in multi-billion-dollar civil settlements, which included over $5 billion in relief to homeowners.   Sara also served multiple times as a subject matter expert, advising on developing evidence and technology standardization across several federal agencies, redefining federal legal job classifications, and implementing discovery standards across all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Her work in criminal prosecution increased Sara’s passion for criminal justice reform, as she saw the many inequalities and systemic injustices from the inside.  Sara graduated as Valedictorian of the Fresno City College Paralegal Program, where she later received the Alumni Recognition Award for her contributions to the paralegal profession and continued outreach to paralegal students. Additionally, Sara has twice been nominated for the California Paralegal of the Year Award.   Sara has previously served as President of the Fresno Paralegal Association and on the board of the California Alliance of Paralegal Associations. Sara enjoys mentoring and teaching other legal professionals, creating “moderately okay” art, spending time near the ocean, and rocking out at concerts. Sara lives in Fresno with her spouse, Jason, and their rescued pit bulls, Ariel and Owen.  Connect with Sara on LinkedIn.     Virtual Patent Gateway (VPG) reduces overhead costs by providing PTAB attorneys with on-demand and affordable paralegal support services. Virtual Patent Gateway Founder Ashley Cheung has a passion for supporting the next generation in the workplace and is committed to developing a growth mindset within VPG.   Learn more about VPG here.