Tara S. Sarosiek

Associate

Philadelphia

(215) 988-2581 phone
(215) 988-2757 fax

Tara S. Sarosiek is an associate in the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group.  She has a diverse litigation practice, with an emphasis on complex commercial disputes, securities and white collar investigations and appeals. 

Complex Commercial Litigation.  Tara has successfully represented clients in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitrations before FINRA, AAA and ARIAS-US.  Her litigation experience includes a broad range of complex commercial matters, including consumer class actions, complex business disputes, breach of contract claims, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Securities and White Collar Investigations.  Tara also has experience defending clients under investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a wide range of other federal and state enforcement agencies.  In these engagements and others, Tara has submitted substantial position papers in defense of her clients and managed the retrieval, organization, review and production of electronic data in response to regulatory requests and government subpoenas.

Appellate Litigation.  Tara has successfully briefed appellate matters in the United States Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Alongside the firm’s chairman Alfred Putnam and partner Alicia Hickok, Tara successfully represented a client before the United States Supreme Court in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, which was named one of the top 10 cases of the 2011 Supreme Court Term by the National Law Journal. 

Constitutional Law.  Tara also represents clients in a variety of matters involving constitutional freedoms, including free speech, freedom of association, due process, and equal protection.  Tara was a key member of the trial team that represented the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America in its long-running and nationally publicized dispute with the City of Philadelphia over the Council’s use of a city-owned building for its headquarters.  In June 2010, the Scouts won a jury verdict in federal court in which the jury found that the City’s efforts to evict Cradle of Liberty violated the Council’s First Amendment rights.  Tara was also on the appellate team that represented a middle school student who was suspended for creating a MySpace parody of her school principal from her home computer.  In June 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, ruled in favor of the student, finding that the school had violated her First Amendment right to free speech. 

In General.  Tara earned her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Virginia in 2004, and she received her J.D., cum laude, from Villanova University School of Law in 2008, where she was an editor for the Villanova Law Review and a semi-finalist in the Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition.  She has also served as a legal intern for the Honorable Juan R. Sanchez of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Tara joined the firm in 2008.  She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, a general surgery resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and her son.  She enjoys long-distance running and photography.

 

Representative Matters

  • Diacakis v. Comcast, No. 11-3002 (N.D. Cal. May 3, 2013).  Successfully represented client in opposing class certification.
  • FINRA Arbitration (2013).  Successfully defended Fortune 100 client at arbitration hearing resulting in dismissal of all claims against client. 
  • Oughton v. Comcast Corporation, No. 11-1926 (W.D. Wash. June 21, 2012).  Successfully represented client in compelling arbitration of plaintiff’s consumer class action claims.
  • GGIS Insurance Services, Inc. v. Lincoln General Insurance Co., et al., No. 1:10-1000, 2012 WL 1164994 (M.D. Pa. April 9. 2012).  Successfully represented client on summary judgment.
  • De Lage Landen Operational Services, LLC v. Third Pillar Systems, LLC, No. 09-2439, 2011 WL 1771044 (E.D. Pa. May 9, 2011).  Successfully represented client in Daubert motion to preclude expert from testifying on issue of reasonable royalties in trade secrets case under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
  • Cradle of Liberty Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America v. City of Philadelphia, No. 2:08-02429 (E.D. Pa. 2010).  Obtained verdict in favor of client in federal jury trial with respect to claims against the city involving First Amendment right of expressive association and the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions.
  • Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Insurance Department v. Kingsway Financial Services Inc., 922 A.2d 255 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2010).  Successfully represented client in obtaining order dismissing claims that client violated the Pennsylvania Insurance Holding Companies Act by divesting its entire interest in its subsidiary, a Pennsylvania insurance company, by donating its shares to New York based charities without prior approval of the transaction by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
  • AAA Arbitration (2009).  Successfully represented Fortune 500 client at arbitration hearing resulting in enforcement of multi-million dollar contract and collection of full amount of counterclaim damages plus interest.
  • Albert W. Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington (U.S. 2012).  Successfully represented client in appeal before the United States Supreme Court where the Court determined in favor of client that the Fourth Amendment permits a jail to conduct a suspicionless strip search of every individual admitted to the general jail population, even those admitted for minor offenses. 
  • J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District (3d Cir. 2011).  Successfully represented client in appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where the court, sitting en banc, found in favor of client that a school could not punish a student for out-of-school speech that does not create a substantial and material disruption inside the school.
  • Diacakis v. Comcast, No. 11-3002 (N.D. Cal. May 3, 2013).  Successfully represented client in opposing class certification.
  • FINRA Arbitration (2013).  Successfully defended Fortune 100 client at arbitration hearing resulting in dismissal of all claims against client. 
  • Oughton v. Comcast Corporation, No. 11-1926 (W.D. Wash. June 21, 2012).  Successfully represented client in compelling arbitration of plaintiff’s consumer class action claims.
  • GGIS Insurance Services, Inc. v. Lincoln General Insurance Co., et al., No. 1:10-1000, 2012 WL 1164994 (M.D. Pa. April 9. 2012).  Successfully represented client on summary judgment.
  • De Lage Landen Operational Services, LLC v. Third Pillar Systems, LLC, No. 09-2439, 2011 WL 1771044 (E.D. Pa. May 9, 2011).  Successfully represented client in Daubert motion to preclude expert from testifying on issue of reasonable royalties in trade secrets case under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
  • Cradle of Liberty Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America v. City of Philadelphia, No. 2:08-02429 (E.D. Pa. 2010).  Obtained verdict in favor of client in federal jury trial with respect to claims against the city involving First Amendment right of expressive association and the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions.
  • Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Insurance Department v. Kingsway Financial Services Inc., 922 A.2d 255 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2010).  Successfully represented client in obtaining order dismissing claims that client violated the Pennsylvania Insurance Holding Companies Act by divesting its entire interest in its subsidiary, a Pennsylvania insurance company, by donating its shares to New York based charities without prior approval of the transaction by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
  • AAA Arbitration (2009).  Successfully represented Fortune 500 client at arbitration hearing resulting in enforcement of multi-million dollar contract and collection of full amount of counterclaim damages plus interest.
  • Albert W. Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington (U.S. 2012).  Successfully represented client in appeal before the United States Supreme Court where the Court determined in favor of client that the Fourth Amendment permits a jail to conduct a suspicionless strip search of every individual admitted to the general jail population, even those admitted for minor offenses. 
  • J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District (3d Cir. 2011).  Successfully represented client in appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where the court, sitting en banc, found in favor of client that a school could not punish a student for out-of-school speech that does not create a substantial and material disruption inside the school.