About Sara Vanden
Sara Vanden Brook trained at the University of Wisconsin, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies and Psychology in 2003. She stayed in Madison for law school and received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2008. Her academic background blends social-science perspectives with legal training, a combination that shapes how she approaches client matters.
She began practicing at The Law Center, S.C. in 2008 and has served there as a lawyer and partner since then. Early in her career she gravitated toward family law, and she has spent more than a decade representing clients in domestic-relations matters. Her caseload has included divorce proceedings, child custody disputes, and issues that touch on family dynamics and children’s welfare.
Vanden Brook is active in professional groups that intersect with both legal practice and family systems. She is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and belongs to the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin. Locally, she participates in the Dane County Bar Association and the Legal Association for Women. She also maintains ties to broader community and business networks through memberships in groups such as Capital Connections Networking Group and Madison Area Connectors.
Her involvement extends to organizations that specifically address children and cooperative divorce processes. Since 2019 she has served on the board of the State Bar of Wisconsin Children and the Law Section. She has also been a board member of the Divorce Cooperation Institute since 2012. Those roles have put her in regular contact with professionals who work to reduce conflict in family transitions, including mediators, mental-health experts, and other attorneys who pursue collaborative approaches.
Colleagues describe her as methodical and pragmatic in court filings and in settlement talks. She approaches custody evaluations, parenting plans, and asset division with attention to detail. At the same time she often pursues negotiated solutions when they can preserve time and limit stress for families. She has worked on cases that require coordination among multiple professionals, and she brings that experience to the planning stages of contested matters.
Outside the office she participates in local networking groups and professional organizations that connect legal practice to community needs. That activity keeps her engaged with developments in family law and in practices that aim to reduce harm to children during family transitions. Her current practice focuses on family law, including divorce, child custody, and collaborative law matters.
