About Sarah Hurdle
Sarah Hurdle Shields built her legal foundation in Indiana. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at Indiana University Bloomington in 2013 and earned her Juris Doctor from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2016. Those years shaped her approach to practice: attention to detail, steady courtroom preparation and an interest in litigation that has carried through her career.
Her early professional steps led her into both state and federal practice. She is admitted to practice in Indiana and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Those credentials allow her to file cases in Indiana trial courts and to handle appellate matters that require briefing and argument on the federal level. She has navigated the procedural demands of those forums and developed practical familiarity with the rules and expectations they impose.
Shields joined Terry & Gookins, LLC, where she has been involved in courtroom work, motion practice and the drafting of appellate briefs. At the firm she has handled matters that required coordination between trial strategy and appellate preservation. She often works on case preparation that aims to keep issues preserved for review, and she assists in preparing the records and briefs necessary for appellate advocacy before the Seventh Circuit when a case advances beyond the trial court.
Colleagues describe her as methodical in legal research and precise in written advocacy. Those traits matter in appellate work and in complex trial litigation alike. She spends substantial time on legal writing and on developing trial-level records that support later appeals. When the work calls for it, she also participates in hearings and oral arguments in both state courts and federal settings.
As of 2026 she practices at Terry & Gookins, LLC. Her work involves litigation in Indiana trial courts and representation in federal matters that can extend to the Seventh Circuit, where she files briefs and appears for oral argument as required by the cases she handles.
