Sara Ghafouri
General Counsel

Sara Ghafouri joins AFRC after practicing almost three years as an associate at Haglund Kelley LLP, a Portland-based law firm. During her time at Haglund Kelley, Sara focused her practice on complex civil litigation, environmental and natural resources law, and Indian law. She helped represent several timber companies and timber associations, including AFRC. Sara began her legal career as an appellate clerk for the Honorable Lynn R. Nakamoto and the Honorable Robert Wollheim at the Oregon Court of Appeals, where she drafted opinions in civil, criminal, and administrative cases involving novel legal questions.

Sara graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School, cum laude, with a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law in 2010. During law school, Sara worked for an environmental nonprofit organization and helped litigate issues involving coal-fired power plants, landfills, and forest plan amendments. Immediately after law school, Sara served as a postgraduate extern for the Honorable S. James Otero of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, where she helped draft judicial opinions in civil cases involving trademark infringement, wage and hour, discrimination, and tort claims. Before attending law school, Sara graduated from University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.S. in biochemistry in 2005.

Sara is also active in Oregon’s legal community. Sara is a board member and advocacy co-chair of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association and participates in Lewis & Clark Law School mentorship program. Sara was the former co-chair of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s Amicus Curiae Committee, which submits briefs in significant cases pending before the Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Supreme Court.