Sarah J. Tietz

Sarah has spent much of her legal career defending the accused. She is known for her zealous advocacy on behalf of those facing the potential loss of their liberty. Sarah strongly believes that each of us is more than the worst accusation we face.

Sarah began her career as a public defender in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she quickly built a reputation as a trial lawyer. Sarah took dozens of cases to trial, achieving several acquittals and beneficial outcomes for her clients.

Sarah then moved to Seattle and joined the King County Department of Public Defense. Sarah began practicing at the Seattle Municipal Court where she achieved a dismissal rate of over 90% of her cases. She was known for her creative and persistent motions practice including motions to compel discovery, suppress evidence, and motions to dismiss based on prosecutorial misconduct. Sarah also practiced in the King County District Court, where she took five jury trials to verdict in six months, achieving Not Guilty verdicts for two clients who were wrongly accused.

In addition to her work in criminal courts, Sarah spent two years representing clients facing involuntary civil commitment. This experience gave Sarah a greater perspective of the myriads of ways people can have their liberty curtailed by the government. Sarah routinely secured her clients’ release from the hospital by convincing the judge that they did not meet the legal criteria to be detained.

Before her work as a public defender, Sarah clerked for Judge James R. Sweeney II on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and for Judge David McKeague on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. While clerking Sarah worked extensively on federal criminal cases, developed her expertise in the Sentencing Guidelines, and honed her legal research and writing skills. Sarah’s experience as a clerk also gave her invaluable insight into how judges analyze cases before the Court.

Sarah obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, summa cum laude, from Butler University. Sarah then attended Washington University in St. Louis for law school where she was a teaching assistant for first year legal writing and an editor of the Law Review. Sarah graduated magna cum laude and in the top 10% of her class.

When not defending her clients from intrusive state action, Sarah enjoys spending time with her two cats, paddle boarding on Lake Washington, and performing with her LGBTQIA+ cheerleading team— Cheer Seattle.