Personal Background
Sarah Lanier is an associate attorney in the Houston office. Sarah’s practice areas include personal injury, toxic torts, mass torts, products liability, and pharmaceutical liability. During law school, Sarah clerked for the Lanier Law Firm’s appellate division. Sarah joined the Firm as an associate attorney in 2024. In her free time, Sarah enjoys long-distance running, with a goal of running a marathon in every state, enjoys reading, and cheering on the Houston Rockets.
Sarah is a member of the firm’s trial team, a role built around being in the courtroom: presenting argument, examining witnesses, and helping tell the client’s story to the jury. She set her sights on trial work early, competing in speech and debate in high school and in mock trial and moot court in law school. She is also a leader in the firm’s use of technology and artificial intelligence, testing tools rigorously while thinking carefully about the ethical guardrails their use requires. Beyond research and document review, she has put AI to creative use for trial skills themselves, from simulating a mock jury panel to practice voir dire to developing case themes, preparing witnesses, and finding the best way to present a case.
Sarah stays close to the clients she represents and makes clear they can reach her anytime, because she believes the trust built through that accessibility is what allows clients to share everything their case needs.
Representative Cases
- Served as trial counsel in the firm’s landmark social media addiction lawsuit trial, JCCP 5255, the first case in the nation to reach a jury on claims that social media platforms were defectively designed to addict children. In March 2026, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found Meta Platforms Inc. and Google’s YouTube liable and returned a $6 million verdict for the plaintiff, apportioning 70% to Meta and 30% to YouTube. She sat at counsel table throughout, managed the exhibits and exhibit negotiations with the defense, helped select the documents used with witnesses, and assisted with witness preparation. She continues to support the firm’s social media addiction cases as they head toward trial.
- Worked on Ingham v. Johnson & Johnson et al in Missouri State Court, where the Lanier Law Firm represented 22 women who suffered from and/or died from ovarian cancer caused by talcum powder exposure and played a role in obtaining the unanimous $4.6 billion verdict on behalf of the plaintiffs.
- Tried a personal injury case to verdict as first chair in Harris County, handling jury selection, opening, witness examinations, and closing, and securing a $156,000 verdict for a client who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle collision
Community and Professional Activities
- 2026 Class of Our Own Women’s Summit Speaker recapping the social media addiction trial
- 2026 Northwestern University, Speaker – AI in the law
- 2025–2026 National Trial Lawyers Ethics Palooza Speaker on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the ethics of storytelling
- 2025 Mass Torts Puerto Rico Speaker on AI challenges and associated ethical obligations
- 2024 Aspen MDL Judicial Summit Speaker on the ethics of third-party litigation funding
- 2023 Complex Litigation Symposium Speaker – Louisiana State Bar Association