Sarah E. Child | associate
212-382-4306 
Ms. Child is an associate attorney at Nelson Madden Black, representing religious institutions and individuals of various faiths at all levels of state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. In this role, she helped obtain a favorable Second Circuit decision striking down the unconstitutional standards the New York City Department of Education used to assess religious accommodation requests in Kane v. DeBlasio, secured injunctive relief in multiple church governance cases enjoining violations of the Religious Corporations Law, submitted briefs to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of members of Congress on Title VII’s religious accommodation standard, and facilitated a settlement refunding a Jewish synagogue more than $175,000 for the payment of improperly assessed property taxes. In addition to her litigation experience, which includes federal jury trial practice, Ms. Child also advises and counsels religious institutions on a variety of corporate matters including governance, policies, taxation, and employment.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Child served as an attorney advisor for the United States Department of Education in Washington, D.C., where she conducted investigations of alleged First Amendment violations, drafted administrative regulations and guidance concerning the intersection of education and religion, and trained state and local educational agencies on their obligations regarding constitutionally protected prayer in public schools. Before that, she served as a litigation associate at a nationally recognized law firm, where her practice focused exclusively on representing religious institutions in religious discrimination cases under RLUIPA and the First Amendment.
As a law student, Ms. Child graduated at the top of her class and served as the Managing Editor of the Law Review. In college, she played basketball at the Division II level and scored more than 1,000 career points.
Education
- Roberts Wesleyan College, B.A. 2012
- Regent University School of Law, J.D. 2017
Bar Admissions
- New York State
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
- Massachusetts
- United States District Court, Southern District of New York
- United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States of America
Publications