Sara Elizabeth Dill

sed@ffsj.com

Sara Elizabeth Dill is an associate with Friebert, Finerty & St. John, S.C. Her practice focuses on immigration and criminal defense in the firm’s Milwaukee and Miami offices. Prior to joining the firm, she owned her own law firm in Miami, Florida, where she represented individuals and corporations before the immigration service, immigration courts, and provided criminal defense representation in state and federal courts. Prior to that, she was a trial lawyer for a non-profit immigration agency and the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. Sara has extensive trial and appellate experience.

She is currently serving as the co-chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s Immigration Committee. Last year Sara was appointed as a Commissioner for the ABA Commission on Immigration. She also previously served on the ABA Criminal Justice Council and will return to the Council as the young lawyer representative for 2009-2010. Sara served as the chair of the ABA Young Lawyer Division Criminal and Juvenile Justice section from 2006-2007.

Presently, Sara is admitted to practice before all Wisconsin, Illinois, and Florida courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and all immigration courts. She is a member of the Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, Chicago, and American Bar Associations. Sara is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Sara has also published numerous articles in recent years, including the following:

Immigration Law Update. The State of Criminal Justice. American Bar Association. 2008; 101 Tips for Representing Non-Citizens in Criminal Proceedings. ABA Young Lawyer’s Division 101 Practice Series. Spring 2007.

Not All Refugees Are Created Equal: The Gender-Based Exclusionary Tactic of United States Asylum Law. ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting Cle Materials. November 2006.

Old Crimes in New Times: Human Trafficking and the Modern Criminal Justice System. Criminal Justice, Volume 21, Number 1, Pages 12-18. American Bar Association, Spring 2006.

In addition to publishing, Sara has spoken at international and national legal conferences and educational seminars regarding the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, human trafficking, refugee determination, and representing non-citizens in criminal court.

Sara attended Marquette University (B.A. 2002), where she majored in political science, with an emphasis in economics, criminology, and international affairs. She then continued her education at Marquette Law School, earning her J.D. in 2005.

In addition to her professional activities, Sara remains active with the Marquette community, and volunteers with the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County and Special Olympics.