About Sara
Sara Hanley trained first as a scientist and then as a lawyer. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and completed her Juris Doctor at Nova Southeastern University in 2007. Those credentials framed the start of a career that spans private practice, appellate work and arbitration assignments.
She began practicing soon after law school. In 2007 she joined the Law Offices of Place & Hanley, LLC as a partner. That role placed her in the routines of client counseling and litigation work early in her career. In 2017 she opened Hanley Law and began operating as owner. Around the same time she took of counsel roles at Woodward, Pires & Lombardo, P.A. and at Stoltmann Law Offices, adding support and collaboration in firms that handle complex commercial and regulatory matters.
Hanley’s courtroom and appellate admissions extend beyond a single state. She is admitted to practice in Florida and in North Carolina. She is also admitted before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Federal Circuit, and she is admitted in the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida. Those admissions allow her to pursue cases in both trial and appellate forums.
Parallel to her firm work, Hanley has an active role in arbitration. Since 2015 she has served as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and for the National Futures Association (NFA). She has been involved with the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association since 2013 and sits on its Bar Journal Editorial Board. Those appointments reflect ongoing engagement in investor dispute resolution and procedural developments in arbitration practice.
Her professional associations include membership in the Collier County Bar Association and the Collier County Women’s Bar Association. She belongs to the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and has maintained an affiliation with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit since 2016. Those memberships support continuing legal education and local bar activities.
Hanley’s work mixes litigation, appellate filings and arbitration service. She manages her own firm while continuing of counsel relationships that provide broader resources for clients. She maintains a practice that handles matters in federal and state courts and accepts appointments as an arbitrator in industry dispute processes, and her current practice focuses on litigation, appellate work and arbitration procedures.
