Sara Director

Biography

Sara Director is a Partner at Barasch & McGarry who handles 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) claims, as well as complex personal injury cases.

Sara joined Barasch & McGarry in 2006 and earned her partnership in 2018, after demonstrating her dedication and commitment to the firm’s clients, resulting in numerous multi-million-dollar recoveries. Sara, a 9/11 survivor, interacts with the firm’s 9/11 clients daily, from their initial phone call to submitting their claims to the Victim Compensation Fund.

Sara takes a hands-on approach to her cases, working directly with our clients to ensure that they feel comfortable with the process and that their voices are heard. Her own 9/11 experience provides her unique insight and compassion toward our clients. From day one until the case is resolved, Sara is a fierce advocator and has demonstrated herself to be a champion for 9/11 and accident victims.

Drawing upon her two decades of court litigation experience, she has successfully won multiple appeals for our 9/11 clients. Her persistence, legal insight, and personal attention to every client have enabled her to win even the most challenging of appeal situations.

She has also been honored to lecture at numerous 9/11-related events to help spread the word about the Victim Compensation Fund and World Trade Center Health Care Program.

In addition to her 9/11 work, her practice includes all types of general negligence cases, with an emphasis on line-of-duty accidents on behalf of the FDNY and NYPD, as well as motor vehicle, trips and falls, premises liability and labor law accidents.

Sara’s accomplishments have been recognized by her peers in the legal community, earning her a place as a Rising Star in the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and a Super Lawyer 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the editions of Super Lawyers magazine. She has also been asked to lecture to her peers in the legal community on various legal topics.

• Education

  • New York Law School, Juris Doctorate, cum laude, 2002
  • Lehigh University, B.A., Political Science, 1999

• Admitted To Practice

  • New York, 2003
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2004
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2004

• Notable Results

  • Over $10 million dollars recovered for the firm’s clients, in connection with the Deutsche Bank fire.
  • $2,090,000  for a firefighter injured in the line of duty
  • $1,500,00 for a firefighter injured within his own firehouse.
  • $1,000,000 for a firefighter injured in the line of duty.

• Awards & Recognition

  • 2022 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2021 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2020 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2019 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2018 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2017 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2016 New York Metro Super Lawyers
  • 2015 New York Metro Rising Stars
  • 2014 New York Metro Rising Stars
  • 2013 New York Metro Rising Stars
  • 2012 New York Metro Rising Stars

• Presentations/Lectures

  • Municipal Liability 2020: The Plaintiff’s Arsenal – General Municipal Law 205-a and -e, When Firefighters and Police Officers can sue their Employer, the City of New York / New York State Trial Lawyer Association 2020
  • Fire Law 2015: Claims and Defenses After Fires and Explosions/ New York State Bar Association 2015
  • The Examination Before Trial – Honing Your Deposition Skills in Tort and Personal Injury Cases / New York City Bar Association 2010

• Professional Memberships

  New York State Trial Lawyers Association

• Press

  • Uterine Cancer and 9/11: Women May Be Missing Out on Compensation
  • WTC Health Program now covers uterine cancer, opening free care to hundreds of first responders, survivors
  • 9/11 responders and survivors now get coverage for uterine cancer; for some, it’s too late
  • CDC Recognizes Uterine Cancer as a 9/11-related Cancer
  • Uterine cancer joins list of 9/11-related diseases covered by federal health program
  • World Trade Center Health Program adds uterine cancers to list of 9/11-related illnesses
  • World Trade Center health panel takes first step to add uterine cancer to 9/11 diseases
  • The Women Left Out of Post-9/11 Health Care
  • Attorney from Locust Valley advocates for 9/11 survivors during the pandemic
  • Advocates for 911 victims fund stressing enrollment deadline
  • 9/11 Survivors at high risk for contracting COVID-19
  • Our Promise to Never Forget Means We Must Wear Our Masks
  • Barasch & McGarry donates meals to Glen Cove Hospital
  • Law Firm Delivers Hundreds of Meals To Hospital Workers Across Long Island
  • Long Island 9/11 Survivors Felled by COVID: Families Eligible for Benefits
  • Long Island hospital workers receive lunch from 9/11 law firm
  • Firefighters still seeking justice 10 years after Deutsche Bank fire – ABC7
  • Claim contractor at fault in Deutsche Bank blaze trying to duck civil rap
  • Erica Tishman death: Building owners knew of facade issue for over a year – New York Post
  • Company Partially Responsible For Deadly 2007 Deutsche Bank Blaze Still Fighting Two Injured FDNY Firefighters In Court – Daily News
  • Tightened New York City Facade Law Hikes Non-Compliance Penalties