Our Attorneys

Contact Sarah
  • Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.
    44 E Mifflin Street, Suite 803
    Madison, WI 53703
  • (608) 255-5200

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D. (1977)
  • Yale College, B.A. (1974) – Honors: Magna cum laude

Sarah Siskind has specialized in class action and other complex litigation spanning an array of substantive areas and a variety of federal and state and administrative courts, focusing in the last 15 years on environmental class action litigation.

The following is a summary of the areas in which Sarah has concentrated her practice.

  • Environmental Litigation

    Sarah leads the firm’s environmental practice group with partner Scott Entin. She has been a featured speaker on the subject at conferences hosted by the Sierra Club and the Impact Fund. She was nominated for the 2020 Public Justice “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award” for her work as lead counsel representing over 10,000 residents in Freeman v. Grain Processing Corp., a years-long nuisance, negligence, and trespass class action against a corn wet mill in Muscatine, Iowa.  Learn more about the Freeman v. Grain Processing Corp. Litigation and Settlement

    Since 2019, Sarah and her MBG team have been litigating on behalf of a class of over 123,000 residents in a Pennsylvania nuisance and negligence class action against one of the nation’s largest steel manufacturers: United States Steel Corporation. The Court of Common Pleas granted class certification in May 2023.  Learn more about Hernandez v. US Steel.

  • Employment and Labor Law

    Over the years, Sarah has represented plaintiffs, defendants, unions and not-for-profit organizations in employment disputes, with concentration on plaintiff-side class actions. Her practice has included litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws, the Labor Management Relations Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Equal Pay Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and collective bargaining. Sarah has served as lead counsel in several national class actions in these areas, and participated as panel speaker at numerous employment law conferences.

  • Consumer Protection

    Sarah has also worked broadly in the consumer protection area. She has served lead counsel in two state and three nationwide class actions challenging usurious interest and predatory loan practices and as Special Assistant Deputy Attorney General to a number of state Medicaid Programs prosecuting violations of state consumer protection and Medicaid fraud laws.

  • Voting Rights

    Sarah has represented political parties and candidates in connection with election rights matters under the First Amendment.

  • Other Litigation

    Sarah has represented individual and commercial clients in connection with covenants not to compete and non-solicitation clauses, contract disputes, and other contract and tort claims, including wrongful termination.

Presentations and Publications

“Litigation Matters:  Success Stories from the Frontlines of Social Change” (presenting on Freeman v. Grain Processing Corporation), Impact Fund Class Action Conference, San Francisco, California, February 20, 2020

“Using Common Law Nuisance to Remedy Environmental Harms,” with Scott Entin.  Workshop conducted at Sierra Club Conference on Building a Carbon-Free Grid Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 13, 2018

“Commonality and Class Certification After Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes.” Wisconsin District Bar Association Newsletter, Madison, WI, February 2013.

“Pragmatics on Plaintiffs in Class Collective and Multiple Plaintiff Actions.” National Employment Lawyers Association Conference on Impact Litigation, Class Collective and Multi-Plaintiff Actions, Boston, MA, October 15, 2005.

“Rent-to-Own Litigation in Wisconsin.” Faculty Talk delivered with Dave Gilles, Wisconsin Assistant AG, UW-Madison Law School, Madison, Wisconsin, November 26, 2002.

“Handling a Plaintiffs Sexual Harassment Case.” Talk delivered at State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Seminar, Madison, Wisconsin, May 25, 1999.

“ERISA Class Actions.” Panel participant at Lawyers Roundtable Luncheon at John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, March 25, 1999.

“Oddball Experts.” Panel participant at annual Wisconsin meeting, Inns of Court, Nashotah, Wisconsin, April 18, 1998.

“Sex Harassment in the Workplace and Elsewhere.” Talk delivered at Annual Membership Meeting of the Dane County Bar Association, Madison, Wisconsin, May 27, 1997.

“Lessons on Sex Harassment from the Rayovac Trial.” Talk delivered in Wisconsin to Lawyers Association for Women. Madison, Wisconsin. June 1996.

“Employee Benefits Litigation and Organizing.” Talk delivered at AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Conference, San Francisco, California, May 1996.

“Trends in Class Action Litigation.” Talk delivered to Defense Research Institute Conference, Chicago, Illinois, November 1994.

“Class Action Litigation.” Talk delivered to National Employment Lawyers Association Annual Convention, Blaine, Washington, June 1994.

“Fusion: Multiple Party Nomination in the United States.” Co-authored with Steven Cobble, published by the Center for New Democracy, Madison, Wisconsin, 1993.

“Claim Denials Under ERISA Plans.” ERISA Remedies, at Center for Public Representation Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, December 1988.

“Title I LMRDA, Recent Developments.” Workshop conducted at AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April, 1986.

“Basic Labor Law: Arbitrating a Labor Case.” New York State Bar Association Seminar, New York University Law School, New York, New York, November, 1985.

“Employer Instability and Union Decline: Developments in the Law of Successorship.” Talk delivered at New York University Thirty-Ninth Annual Conference on Labor, New York, June, 1985. Proceedings published by Matthew Bender.

“The Duty of Fair Representation.” Talk delivered at New York State Bar Association/NLRB Conference on Labor Law, February, 1984, reprinted in BNA Daily Labor Report, March 2, 1984, and New York Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section Newsletter, New York, New York, Summer, 1984.


Bar Admissions

Wisconsin Bar (1987)

U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin (1987)

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin (1988)

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (1987)

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (2004)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (1984)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Circuit (1987)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit (1986)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit (2008)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (1990)

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (1995)

U.S. Supreme Court (1992)


Honors

Best Lawyers in America (2018)

Sarah Siskind Nominated for Public Justice 2020 Trial Lawyer of the Year

Learn More


Professional Memberships

Dane County Wisconsin Bar

National Employment Law Association

American Constitution Society

Past President, Western District Bar Association, Madison Wisconsin

Past President, Western District Bar Association Pro Bono Fund, Madison Wisconsin

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