Sarah E. Bouchard

Partner

Sarah Bouchard helps companies respond to workplace crisis situations. She leads internal investigations and advises employers and boards of directors on appropriate responses and remediation measures. She is a seasoned litigator and trial lawyer, who litigates highly sensitive and complex discrimination, noncompetition, trade secret and whistleblower matters across a variety of industries and concerns, including financial services, food and drug safety, airlines, energy, export controls, and college sports. As co-leader of the firm’s whistleblower group, she is a prolific speaker and writer, and led the first federal jury trial of a whistleblower claim under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Sarah has been Chambers listed since 2008.

Sarah is a co-leader of the firm’s whistleblower taskforce. Her whistleblower experience includes litigating numerous cases before the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), administrative law judges, and federal courts. She defends clients against allegations involving complex regulatory and compliance issues, including value-added tax (VAT) treatment and free trade zone issues; inventory booking and corresponding implications on quarterly earnings reports; accurate revenue accounting treatment; proper internal control procedures; and stock option agreements and compensation models. On behalf of Morgan Lewis, she has published comments to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program, and is a frequent speaker on Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and Dodd-Frank whistleblower issues.

Sarah also advises employers on the preemptive creation of crisis management plans before harassment allegations are made, and she advises on workplace culture assessments to evaluate companies’ policies, practices, and processes for handling sexual harassment and other workplace complaints. Sarah has handled workplace harassment investigations and counseled on workplace crises for employers in the financial services, legal services, and media and entertainment industries.

In addition to her whistleblower and crisis management work, Sarah provides advice regarding compliance with Title IX and investigates claims of discrimination and harassment under Title IX. She also advises on best practices for organizations navigating Title IX investigations.

A seasoned litigator with first- and second-chair trial experience in numerous matters, Sarah handles cases alleging violations of employment laws, including individual, US national, and regional collective class actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws. She also litigates noncompete and trade secret matters for clients across the United States, most recently in the medical device and technology sectors.

Sarah also routinely advises employers on sexual harassment, employee leave rights, wage and hour compliance, and litigation avoidance, conducting training and internal audits related to these issues.

Sarah is the Firm Partner of Industries and Strategic Initiatives.

Villanova University School of Law, 1995, J.D.
Pennsylvania State University, 1992, B.A.

Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Supreme Court of the United States
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
US District Court for the District of New Jersey
US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
US District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Publications

Fellow, The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers

Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Labor and Employment, Philadelphia (2022–2026)

Listed, The Legal Intelligencer, Distinguished Leader (2021)

Listed, Lawdragon 500, Leading US Corporate Employment Lawyer (2020–2022)

Listed, Philadelphia Business Journal, Women of Distinction (2020)

Ranked, Labor & Employment, Pennsylvania, Chambers USA (2008–2025)

Leading Lawyer, Labor and employment: Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions): defense, The Legal 500 US (2018–2025)

Recommended, Labor and employment disputes: defense, The Legal 500 US (2016, 2017)

Listed, Benchmark Labor & Employment, Labor & Employment Star: Northeast (2018)

Member, Pennsylvania Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 (2024)

Member, Employment Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 (2018)

Member, Law360, Practice Group of the Year, Employment (2017, 2019)

Listed, Philadelphia Business Journal, Best of the Bar (2017)

Listed, Human Resources Executive, Most Powerful Employment Attorneys (2011–2019)

Listed, Law360, Employment Law MVP (2016)

Member, Board of Directors, American Heart Association (Southeastern PA)

Board Member and Past Chair, Philadelphia Go Red for Women Campaign

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here.

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