Sarah Oates has worked at Oates, Knezevich, Gardenswartz, Kelly & Morrow, P.C. since 2009. Sarah’s primary areas of practice are land use and real estate law. Sarah focuses on due diligence review for properties in Aspen, Pitkin County and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. As part of her practice, Sarah helps clients navigate the local land use regulations and guides clients through all legal aspects involving local real estate. Sarah also assists clients with forming entities for use in real estate and business transactions.
Growing up in Aspen and having worked in both the local government and non-profit sectors prior to becoming a lawyer, Sarah has an extensive understanding of the local community. Sarah also has strong local ties to Aspen. Sarah takes a collaborative approach to resolving land use concerns with the local jurisdictions and is proud of the positive working relationships she has with her legal colleagues and local officials. Sarah also serves as the alternate Pitkin County Hearing Officer.
Sarah served a term as the President of the Pitkin County Bar Association in 2011-2012 and, along with her father Leonard M. Oates, is a Colorado Bar Foundation Fellow. Fellows are selected based on reputation and good standing in the legal community and outstanding contributions to their communities. As part of her involvement in the local community, Sarah currently serves on the Pitkin County Community Health Services Board and serves as the attorney for the Aspen Historical Society – providing her services pro bono.
Sarah blogs about local land use issues on her blog Land (Use) Mine, which can be found at http://landusemine.wordpress.com/.
EDUCATION
- Westminster College, Fulton, MO, Bachelor of Arts, 1994
- University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, Masters of Liberal Studies/Museum Studies, 1999
- University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, JD, with honor, 2009
BAR ADMISSIONS
- Colorado 2009
- Wyoming 2009
RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS
- Order of the Coif
- President of PCBA, 2011-2012
- Colorado Bar Foundation Fellow, 2012
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Mark Ross Montessori School Board Member, 2014-current
- Pitkin County Community Health Services Board, 2011-current
- Aspen Historical Society Board of Trustees, 2009-2013