Sarah Duggin

School

  • Columbus School of Law

    • Expertise

  • Corporate Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Professional responsibility of corporate counsel

    • Prior to coming to Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law, Sarah Duggin was Vice President & General Counsel of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak). Her duties included managing a 150-person law department with responsibility for corporate transactions, litigation, labor and employment, disciplinary hearings, EEO investigations, and nationwide claims administration, as well as advising Amtrak's Board and Chief Executive Officer. Sarah has also served as Chief Counsel of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, a multi-facility academic medical care provider, and as General Counsel of the Children's National Medical Center. Prior to her general counsel positions, Sarah was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly where she litigated complex criminal and civil cases, including a number of pro bono matters.

    Sarah is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was Articles Editor of the law review, winner of the David Amram prize for civil procedure, and an editorial assistant to Professor George Haskins, author of the second volume of the Holmes Devise History of the United States Supreme Court. Sarah's undergraduate degree is from Smith College where she received an A.B. magna cum laude with highest honors in government and high honors in economics and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Spottswood W. Robinson, III, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

    At CUA Sarah teaches primarily in the areas of corporate and constitutional law. From time to time she also teaches professional responsibility and civil rights. She has taught a number of continuing legal education courses and in-house and client seminars on managing complex civil litigation, managing crises, and dealing with corporate criminal investigations. Sarah has provided legal consulting advice to several health care and other corporate clients and has participated in a number of community service organizations, particularly work with education and small business initiatives in Honduras. Sarah has published numerous articles in the areas of the role and professional responsibility of corporate counsel, corporate law and responsibility, and constitutional law.

    Sarah is also an Episcopal priest with a Master of Divinity with honors from Wesley Theological Seminary. She serves as assistant rector (part-time) of St. John’s Episcopal Church-Georgetown Parish in Washington, D.C., and she is a member of the Constitutions and Canons Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

    Sarah is married to Kirk Renaud. Sarah and Kirk have two sons, Alexander and Bryant, and a dog named Jesse. 

        

    Research and Writing

    PUBLICATIONS
    Article on Faith and Business (forthcoming through University of Maryland Robert Smith School of Business Henry Kaufman Conference on Religion and Business)
     
    The American Presidency, the 2008 Election, and the U.S. Constitution’s Natural Born Citizenship Proviso, 3 KRAKOW STUDIA MIEDZYNARODOWE 9 (2008)
     
    The McNulty Memorandum, the KPMG Decision and Corporate Cooperation: Individual Rights and Legal Ethics, 21 GEORGETOWN JOURNAL OF LEGAL ETHICS 341 (2008)
     
    The Pivotal Role of the General Counsel in Promoting Corporate Integrity and Professional Responsibility, 52 ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 989 (2007)
     
    Restoring Trust in Corporate Directors, 56 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 211(2006)        (co-authored with Stephen M. Goldman)
     
    Ethical Dilemmas in Internal Investigations, SM020 ALI-ABA 319 (2006)
     
    The Impact of the War Over the Attorney-Client Privilege on the Business of American Health Care, 22 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HEALTH LAW & POLICY 301 (2006)
     
    The Ongoing Battle over Weingarten Rights for Nonunion Employees: What Do Terrorism, Corporate Fraud and Workplace Violence Have To Do with It?, 20 NOTRE DAME JOURNAL OF LAW, ETHICS & POLICY 655 (2006)
     
    Natural Born in the U.S.A.: The Striking Unfairness and Dangerous Ambiguity of the constitution’s Presidential Qualifications Clause and Why We Need to Fix It, 85 BOSTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 53 (2005) (co-authored with Mary Beth Collins)
     
    Historical Antecedents of Brown v. Board of Education: The Struggle for America’s Soul, XXI CUA LAWYER 16 (Summer 2004)
     
    Internal Corporate Investigations: Legal Ethics, Professionalism and the Employee Interview, 2003 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BUSINESS LAW REVIEW 859.
     
    Negligence Under Section 1983 and the Eighth Amendment, 127 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW REVIEW 533 (1978).

    PRESENTATIONS/PANELS/MEDIA
    Christianity & Business Ethics, The Henry Kaufman Conference on Business and Religion, Robert H. Smith School of Business, (University of Maryland, College Park, MD, September 2012, November 2012 & October 2013)
     
    Faith & Business, Forum presentation (St. John’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C, April 2013)
     
    Faith and Business: The Possibilities and Perils of a Complex Relationship in a Diverse World (University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business Global Fellows Program, March 2013)
     
     A Sense of Your Own Story (Convocation Address: The Catholic University of America, September 2012)
     
    Moderator, Panel on Corporate Social Responsibility (Federalist Society, The Catholic University of America, November 2011)
     
    Moderator, Panel on Fracking and the Law (Democratic Law Students Society, The Catholic University of America, September 2011)
     
    Moderator, Panel on School Choice and the Law (Republican Law Students, The Catholic University of America, Spring 2011)
     
    Business, Law and Religion, American Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, Section of Socioeconomics, Presenter and Panelist (New Orleans, LA, January 2011)
     
    DC Area Legal History Roundtable Convener (The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., November 2007)
     
    Symposium on Corporate Compliance: The Role of Company Counsel, co-sponsored by Georgetown Center for the Study of the Legal Profession, Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and the Corporate Law Association (Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., October 2007)
     
    Pro Bono and Community Service Experiences, CSL Legal Services Society luncheon speaker (Washington, D.C., April 2007)
     
    The Pivotal Role of the General Counsel in Navigating the Currents and Cross-Currents of Corporate Attorneys’ Reporting Up and Reporting Out Obligations, American Association of Law School Annual Conference (Washington, D.C. January 2007)
     
    Ethical Challenges of Internal Investigations, American Law Institute/American Bar Association’s Fifth Annual Course of Study, “Clean Water Act – Law and Regulation” (October, 2006) [published at SM020 ALI-ABA 319].
     
    Las Hermanas de Dorcas: The Evolution of a Women’s Sewing Cooperative, Conference on Honduras (Copán, Honduras, October 2006) (with Reina de Madrid & Rosalinda Ulloa).
     
    Commentary on Susan Carle’s, Forerunners of the NAACP (2006 draft), George Washington University Legal History Roundtable (Washington, D.C., September 2006).
     
    The Civil Liability of the Directors of American Corporate Directors in the Post-Enron Era and the “New” Fiduciary Duty of Good Faith, University of ?ód? (?ód?, Poland, May 2006).
     
    Microenterprise: What Is It, and How Does It Work? St. Columba’s Honduras Mission Group Meeting (April 2006) (with Nathaniel Jackson, M.B.A.).
     
    Comments to the United States Sentencing Commission in response to request for public comment on the application to waive language compromising attorney-client privilege (March 2006).
     
    Interviewed for and quoted in Sentencing Panel Rethinks Waiver Policy, COMPLIANCE WEEK (March 28, 2006).
    Comments to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on the Proposed Amendments to Rules 1.13 and 4.3 of the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct (December 2005).
     
    CSPAN Supreme Court Watch Commentator on nomination of Justice Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court, C-Span and CNN (November 22, 2005).
    Panel member, Perspectives on Women in Law by CUA Faculty, CUA Women’s Law Caucus (November 2005).
     
    Attorney/Client Privilege and Attorney Work Product, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs Conference, “Living in the New Regulatory World,” National Association of Variable Annuities Dealers (Washington, D.C., June 2005).
     
    Mission Groups & Emerging Business Initiatives: Successes and Challenges, Conference on Honduras (Copán, Honduras, October 2005) (with Bryant Renaud).
     
    State Action and Internal Investigations, CSL Faculty Scholarship Luncheon (September 2005).
    Commentator on Current Issues in Constitutional Law, Rector’s Forum, St. Columba’s Episcopal Church (April 2005).
     
    Medical Malpractice Liability in the United States, Rotary Club program for visiting Russian physicians (Alexandria, VA., 2004) (with Dean William Fox, Professor Helen Alvaré and Adjunct Professor Irving Cohen).
     
    Panelist, Representing Financially Troubled Companies, ABA Annual Conference on Professional Responsibility (Naples, FL. June 2004) (with Rebecca Lamberth, Michael Sundermeyer and Richard Creamer).
     
    Christianity and the Study of Business Corporations: Should Faith Impact the Teaching of Secular Subjects?, Baylor University Conference on Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community (Waco, TX, March 2004).
     
    CSL Black Law Students Association Lecture on Brown v. Board of Education in honor of 50th Anniversary Celebration (Washington, D.C., May 2004).
     
    Just War Theory and the Debate Over Invading Iraq, CUA Forum (October 2003).
     
    Instructor for Preface Program practice classes and exam (August 2002 & 2003).
     
    Admission Open House Mock Class, CSL (Spring 2003).
     
    Interviewed for and quoted in API story reprinted in newspapers across the country and in Europe on Supreme Court arguments in University of Michigan affirmative action cases (April 2003).
     
    Brown Bag Lunch on Corporate Practice, CUA Women’s Law Caucus (November 2002).       
    Career Day presentations on careers in law, Westland Middle School and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (Bethesda, MD., 1998-2003).
     
    What the Client Is Looking for, National Summit for Women in Law Firms (Washington, D.C. 1999).
     
    Crisis Management: What to Do When You’re Under the Spotlight, National Conference for Women in Transportation (Washington, D.C., 1998).
    Effective Crisis Management, National Forum for Women Corporate Counsel (with Jane Sherburne and Sydney Avent (Washington, D.C. April 1998).
     
    Complex Civil Litigation: Case Management Orders; Deposition of Expert Witnesses, ALI-ABA Conference on Complex Litigation (Breckenridge, Co. 1991).