Sara Sayles is an accomplished real estate transactional attorney with a diverse set of skills and experience working in multiple jurisdictions. She advises developers, landowners, and landlords on land use matters, commercial leases, property sales, and community association matters. Her industry knowledge extends to preparing, reviewing, and negotiating real estate documents and contracts. Sara builds relationships with her clients to understand their objectives and strategically meet their goals, using her broad industry background to champion her clients’ cause in the field.

In addition to her transactional real estate experience, Sara focuses on utility-scale solar development. Beginning with applications to county planning departments and culminating in arguing her clients’ positions before local planning commissions, hearings officers, and the Land Use Board of Appeals, she has assisted developers in obtaining land use entitlements for over 30 Oregon solar projects. Sara also assists her developer clients with purchase and sale of solar project portfolios and navigating construction finance transactions.

Early in her legal career, Sara was an Assistant Attorney General for the American Samoa Office of the Attorney General. There, she worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to bring the territorial government into compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and acted as in-house counsel to various government departments. Prior to her time in American Samoa, Sara represented California hospitals and inpatient psychiatric facilities in medical malpractice actions. Sara’s extensive and varied background in multiple jurisdictions helps her to pivot quickly to address a broad range of client needs.

Bar Admissions

• Oregon State Court
• Oregon Federal Court
• Washington State Court
• Washington Federal Court
• California State Court
• California Federal Courts
• American Samoa, Territorial Bar

Education

• Lewis & Clark Law School, Juris Doctor degree (2008)‎
• University of Colorado Boulder, Bachelor of Arts degree, Environmental Studies (2002)‎

• Advises and consults with developers and landowners on real estate and land use matters, including a variety of real estate transactions, zoning analyses, and obtaining land use entitlements.
• Performs due diligence for real estate transactions, including review of title reports, escrow documents, closing documents, deeds, easements, legal descriptions, environmental reviews, and surveys.
• Negotiates and prepares commercial leases, ground leases, property and business sale agreements, deeds, entity formation documents, and contracts.
• Works with developers and community associations, including homeowner associations and condominium associations, regarding association formation, drafting governing documents, turnover, and ongoing association governance and disputes.
• Represents commercial landlords and tenants in resolution of landlord-tenant disputes.
• Represents clients before administrative bodies.
• Provides municipal government advice, including drafting and amendment of policies and resolutions, research and analysis of complex legal issues, and drafting and negotiating of agreements and contracts.
• Represented numerous utility-scale solar developers in the Pacific Northwest to obtain necessary entitlements and assisted them in real estate transactions, including ground leases and sale of solar energy portfolios.

• OP-ED: Time Running Out to Take Advantage of Oregon Rebate Program
• Leveraging Solar and Stand-Alone Development Incentives in the Federal Inflation Act
• OP-ED: Large Cities Preparing to Allow Middle Housing in Residential Areas
• Oregon HOA's and Condo Associations Need to Omit Discriminatory Language in Governing Documents
• OP-ED: Tips for Developing, Transitioning Community Association Projects
• Oregon Housing and Community Landlord Compensation Fund

Seminar

• Storage Solutions: A Path Towards a Sustainable Grid
• Energy Transitions in the Northwest Forum
• Renewable Energy Projects: Development, Easements, Leases and Funding