Sarah Baxter Kaplan

Family Attorney at Santa Rosa, CA

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The only attorney you should hire

Sara is an incredibly intelligent, talented woman with an amazing amount of experience and integrity. She is extremely well versed in law, focused, and strategic. She gracefully handled a VERY contentious divorce case, that most would not be willing to take on. She guided me through each step of the divorce, court proceedings, and also gave me wonderful resources to help me with my healing process. She was understanding and very clear about how she spent her time on my case and why. She was victorious in court every single time. She has an uncanny ability to foresee possible strategies from the opposition. This means that she is rarely blindsided and is prepared. Prior to meeting Sara, I had interviewed many attorneys as the intensity of my situation needed someone that would be able to withstand my opposition. While you will find many attorneys and some at lower rates that boast about their abilities, I would never hesitate to hire Sara again or recommend her. I was witness to what this woman is capable of accomplishing. She was an absolute blessing and champion.

Sara has been a great attorney

About Sarah

Learn Sarah’s areas of practice.

Practice areas

Family

93%

Dissolution and post-dissolution matters. Child custody and visitation. Child and spousal support. Support Modification. Guardianships.

17 years
Litigation

5%

Real estate, business, contracts, civil harassment, family law, guardianships.

17 years
Appeals

1%

Private criminal appeals, private civil appeals, Supreme Court appointed criminal appeals.

17 years
Civil rights

1%

Civil Rights discrimination under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

17 years

I will be your advocate, your counselor, and your guide. Litigation can be very stressful and yet my clients often tell me that their stress levels significantly decrease as soon as I take on their case.

As your advocate, I will directly handle your case from start to finish. I also work hard to make myself easily accessible to my clients.

I am a trial attorney who focuses the majority of my practice on Civil Litigation and Family Law. My civil law practice most commonly entails Business Litigation; Real Property and Real Estate Litigation; and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) & Unruh Litigation. My family law practice covers the entire spectrum and most commonly includes Dissolution; Custody and Visitation; Child and Spousal Support; Child Custody Evaluations; Domestic Violence Restraining Orders; Marital Settlement Agreements; Grandparent Visitation; and Guardianships of the Minor, Person, and Estate. I am also an experienced appellate attorney, handling both Civil and Criminal Appeals.

Outside of work, I am very active in the local legal community. I previously served on the Board of Sonoma County Women in Law (Vice President) and currently serve on the Board of the Sonoma County Bar Association’s Family Law Steering Committee and Family Law Rules and Best Practices Subcommittee. I am a Barrister Member of the Richard M. Sangster American Inn of Court, a group of lawyers and judges from Sonoma, Marin, and Napa dedicated to enhancing the quality of practice and conduct. I also volunteer my time for the Sonoma County Superior Court both as a Discovery Facilitator and a Judge pro tem.

In my spare time, I enjoy taking hikes in Sonoma County with my family and friends.

Photos and videos

Licensed for 16 years

State CA

Status Active

Acquired 2006

Updated 11/30/2022

We have not found any instances of professional misconduct for this lawyer.

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Reviews

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5.0 / 5.0

8 customer reviews

5 Star

100%

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Posted by anonymous | July 8, 2020

The only attorney you should hire

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Posted by Tim | July 5, 2020

Sara has been a great attorney

Sara came highly recommend from a friend of mine. My friend got everything he wanted in his case. I’m very pleased in what Sara has done for me in my case so far. Sara is a great attorney!!!

Posted by Marty | January 23, 2020

Excellent family law attorney

We hired Sara Baxter for a family law issue regarding child custody and support. She is very knowledgeable and explains each step to us. She encourages my son and I in doing some of the paperwork, thus reducing our expenses. She also has a very calming influence, which helps keep our stress levels low. We are very happy to have Sara as our attorney and would highly recommend her.

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Response from Sarah Kaplan January 28, 2020

Hi Marty. Thanks for the glowing review. I'm happy to help your family. It is nice to hear that I have a calming influence. I do my best to take away/reduce client stress and I'm glad that my efforts are working. Thanks for being great clients.

Posted by Heather | January 22, 2020

Most Excellent Family Law Lawyer

Sarah Baxter is hands down the best representation I have had in a long standing very contentious child custody (family law) matter. She is professional, works hard, and is very detail oriented. She knows every facet of her case before she enters the Courtroom and enters fully prepared. She also makes every effort to negotiate and settle matters out of court to try to avoid appearances in court. I have used her services for several years for a custody evaluation settlement conference, later a brief focused assessment, and most recently a request for order and not only did we prevail in court but she successfully recovered my attorneys fees so I wasn't hit in the pocketbook as hard as I'm hit emotionally with such a challenging and difficult legal matter. She is very supportive and knows her stuff, I highly recommend her and her legal services.

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Response from Sarah Kaplan January 28, 2020

Heather. Thank you for the wonderful and extremely detailed review! Future clients will greatly benefit from all the details that you were willing to share. Thank you, thank you, thank you and I also appreciate having you as a client. You and your entire family are wonderful.

Posted by Warren | June 25, 2017

Perceptive-Detailed-Knowledgeable

We have worked with her for over three years on a complex issue dragged out by the opposition. Sara is detailed and delves into the law(s) looking for solid defense points. She is dogged in her opposition to what seems as unrealistic attacks from opposition. She seems unstoppable yet shows flexibility in the client debates over issues. She is determined to have proper testimony in trial and goes to great length to prepare a client--no mistakes! The trail was about two weeks in duration I would trust her with any legal issue she undertakes.

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Response from Sarah Kaplan April 5, 2019

Warren, thank you so much for the wonderful review. Despite the consequences that brought us together, it was such a pleasure to work with you and your family.

Posted by anonymous | June 18, 2017

Small Claims Matter

Sara Baxter supported me as my legal consultant for an important Small Claims matter. She did not appear in Court with me as this is not allowed for Small Claims. She provided me with considerable pertinent legal information and advice that helped me win the case and get the full judgment amount that I had requested from the Court.

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Response from Sarah Kaplan April 4, 2019

Thank you for the kind words. Happy to help!

Posted by Michael | June 14, 2017

Review of engagement to obtain permanent legal guardianship

Sara was well prepared, listened to us (her clients), quickly came up to speed on a voluminous record of events, prepared persuasive motions to the court, and was extremely pleasant to work with. She was very responsive whenever we had questions and concerns and was successful in every aspect of our Petition to the Court to obtain Permanent Guardianship of our granddaughter in a contested proceeding.

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Response from Sarah Kaplan April 5, 2019

Michael, thank you for the detailed five-star review. It was an absolute pleasure. Helping your family, and especially your sweet granddaughter, was extremely rewarding.

Posted by Barbara | September 18, 2014

Crim defense

Attorney Sara Baxter is an amazing attorney. She is knowledgeable, diligent, and extremely ethical. She is also extremely skilled in court because she is able to think quickly on her feet and always comes to court fully prepared. With complete confidence, I would hire Ms. Baxter for any legal matter.

Response from Sarah Kaplan January 28, 2020

Barbara, thank you for the kind words and wonderful compliments. I am always happy to help you and your family.

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