Sara Jesser is a senior litigation paralegal experienced in environmental matters with particular emphasis on toxic tort defense. 

Ms. Jesser has substantial experience in case and document management. She is skilled in legal and investigative research and is highly skilled in digital case management including digital imaging and e-discovery methods. Ms. Jesser has designed and implemented numerous databases custom-tailored for the handling of practice group and client specific data and document management. 

Ms. Jesser is a coordinating paralegal for the firm’s asbestos practice for Cook County, Illinois. In this position, she manages the revolving docket of over 500 cases at any given time. She is the client reporting liaison for many asbestos clients, and as such she has sophisticated expertise with various extranets used for claims management and reporting. 

Ms. Jesser has been referred to clients of other Hinshaw offices within the practice group for her investigation skills. She has been assigned to perform the investigation and research for many cases where a professional private investigator would have been hired. Ms. Jesser is skilled in witness location and interviewing, co-worker location and identification, alternative and discrete discovery methods, skip tracing, business verification and location of its officers. She is knowledgeable with online, public and subscription based investigative tools. She has been known to go directly to public agencies or private companies and conduct investigation on foot as well. She is also skilled at obtaining archived documents on the local and national level.

Ms. Jesser assists the firms’ attorneys with promoting the practice by way of preparing the research for many of the attorney’s publications, assisting in the drafting of the attorney’s presentations, including creating PowerPoint presentations. She also assists in the drafting of proposals in response to RFPs as well. 

Ms. Jesser serves at the firm’s administrator of many subscription-based legal service programs, including LexisNexis File and Serve, various court reporting services such as PohlmanUSA, as well as document procurement/retrieval services such as RecordTrak.

She assisted with the research and writing of “Component Supplier Litigation: What You New Need to Know to Craft a Solid Defense,” a presentation delivered by Hinshaw partner Craig T. Liljestrand in April 2010.

Ms. Jesser is the paralegal for the chairs of the firm’s toxic tort specialty group, attending the meetings and preparing the minutes. She has also been a contributor to articles authored by Hinshaw attorneys, including:

• “Exposure to Welding Fumes: Are The Welding Industry’s Risk Management Practices Ready to Face This Growing Litigation Threat?,” 49 For the Defense (DRI) 16, June 2007.
• “Ballard: Where We Are Now and What We Have Learned,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Mold, February 2003, 3-2 Mealey’s Litigation Rep. Mold 21 (2003), Volume 3, Issue #2.
• “The Effects of Mold Beyond the Courtroom,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Mold June 2003, 3-6 Mealey’s Litigation Rep. Mold 20 m(2003), Volume 3, Issue #6.

Ms. Jesser is a member of the Illinois Paralegal Association and a member of the Associate Board of Coordinated Advice & Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS). She has served on the Uncorked! Committee for CARPLS’s annual wine tasting benefit and currently serves as raffle chair for the annual gutterball derby.

Ms. Jesser is a past vice president of marketing for the Associate Board of Literacy Chicago, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Chicago area adults and their families by providing a variety of classes and tutoring in reading, math, grammar and other subjects.

She is an active member of the Chicago Sinai Congregation and a contributor to the Jewish United Fund.

In her spare time, she assists families with genealogical research. She is an avid knitter and active member of the Friends of LaSalle PTA. She assists their annual fundraiser with acquiring raffle and auction items to benefit the nonprofit LaSalle Language Academy.