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Overview
Sarah Stevenson is a shareholder in the Natural Resources Department and a litigator representing public entities and private businesses. Her natural resources experience focuses on water law, including water adjudications and interstate water compacts, and Native American law, including natural resource development projects on Native American land. She has advised clients developing projects on Native American land on issues regarding indigenous rights, jurisdiction, and contract formation. Sarah has litigated business disputes and employment and First Amendment cases.
Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, and received a joint J.D./M.A. in International Political Economics and Development from Fordham University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. While at Fordham, she was chosen as a Crowley Scholar in International Human Rights, participated in the Leitner Human Rights Clinic, and was a research assistant for Professor Russell Pearce. She clerked for the Honorable Patricio M. Serna of the New Mexico Supreme Court from 2009 to 2011. Her B.A. is from Scripps College. Sarah served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger.
Chambers USA Directories of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized Sarah in both Native American Law and Water Law in New Mexico. She is recognized by Best Lawyers in America© for her work in Environmental Law and Native American Law.
Education
Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 2009, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Dean’s List 2007-2009
Fordham University, M.A., International Political Economy and Development, 2009
Scripps College, B.A., American Studies, 2001, with honors
Bar Admissions
New Mexico
New York
United States Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
Activities
Professional Activities
- American Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Ex Officio Member, New Mexico Supreme Court Commission on Equity and Justice, 2021-present
- Board of Directors, New Mexico Women’s Bar Association, 2021-present
- Member, Modrall Sperling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, 2017-present
- Board of Directors, Indian Law Section, State Bar of New Mexico, 2016-2018
- Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (f/k/a Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation), 2011-present; Young Professionals Committee, 2012-2016; Human Rights and the Extractive Industries Conference Steering Committee, February 2016
Clerkships
- Law Clerk, Justice Patricio M. Serna, New Mexico Supreme Court, 2009-2011
Public Service
- U. S. Peace Corps, Niger, West Africa; HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator, 2004-2005; Community Health Agent, 2002-2004
News & Articles
News
Discourse
Presentations
- Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Sacred Sites and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Int’l Mining and Oil & Gas Law, Development, and Investment, April 22-24, 2013, Cartagena, Colombia
Articles
- Maori Land Rights & the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
32 Fordham Int’l L. J., 298, October 7, 2008
By Sarah M. Stevenson - Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Sacred Sites and Traditional Cultural Properties and the Role of Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent
32 J. Energy & Nat. Resources L., No. 3, 297, July 22, 2014
By Stuart R. Butzier and Sarah M. Stevenson - Don’t Let the Well Run Dry: Management and Use of Groundwater in Times of Scarcity
Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Annual Institute Proceedings 2015,
Vol. 61, ch. 23, Maria O’Brien and Sarah M. Stevenson, October 7, 2015
By Maria O’Brien and Sarah M. Stevenson,
Honors
- Chambers USA Directories of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Native American Law and Water Law, 2023-present
- Best Lawyers in America© in Environmental Law and Native American Law, 2021-present
- Southwest Super Lawyers®, selected as a Southwest Rising Star, 2014-2021
- Benchmark Litigation, The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, Litigation Star
