- Overview
- Experience
- Affiliations
- Insights
Overview
Sarah Dowdy Young practices in all areas of education law, representing clients on some of the most challenging issues facing educational institutions. These matters can include defending school districts and other educational entities in civil rights actions, federal desegregation cases, along with a full array of compliance, management, operational, employment, contracting, and other matters that enable schools to perform their mission — including arguing cases before trial courts, circuit courts of appeals, and even the U.S. Supreme Court.
In her most recent legal role, Sarah served as General Counsel for what is, from a financial and operational perspective, one of the largest and fastest-growing public school districts in Alabama, with about 31,000 students, more than 4,000 employees, and a half-billion-dollar annual budget.
Sarah has deep experience interacting with every aspect of school system operations. These issues range from compliance with federal, state, and local law (e.g., Title IX, FLSA, FERPA, ADA, IDEA ADEA, Section 504 state and federal administrative and open government laws) to litigation of business contracts. She advises school boards and administrators on policy issues, develops collaborative educational and workforce-focused programs with private industry, and counsels clients on legal issues related to school facility construction matters and employment matters, including compensation structures. She defends or pursues policy changes in court or at the legislative level. Sarah also conducts training for administrators and personnel on important topics, including special education, Section 504, Title IX, student discipline, confidentiality, crisis response, school law enforcement issues, and a host of employment issues.
Sarah’s passion for education began with her undergraduate training as an elementary school teacher. Whether dealing with public schools, private schools, or charter schools — how they operate and how they are funded — Sarah’s bottom-line measure of progress is always student success. She achieves this by listening carefully to stakeholders and devising legally compliant ways to provide the best possible educational services to children and the community. Given Sarah’s background before becoming an attorney, and then her service to both a large public school district and law firms where she focused on education clients, she understands educators’ needs from all sides. In her in-house role, Sarah often engaged with outside counsel to develop solutions and defend positions, and as an attorney with Adams & Reese, she brings that broad spectrum of experience and perspective to the firm’s clients.
While in law school, Sarah clerked with the Texas Tech University General Counsel's Office as well as the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas. Her academic achievements were honored with the prestigious CALI Award for Litigation with the Federal Government and the Jurisprudence Award for Superior Academic Achievement in Constitutional Law. Prior to law school, Sarah trained as an elementary school teacher, which served as her inspiration for a career in education law.
Presentations
- Alabama Association of Administrative Assistants (AAAA), July 2025 Summer Conference, presenter, “Alabama Open Meetings Act Nuts and Bolts for Administrative Assistants”
- Alabama Counsel of School Board Attorneys (ACSBA), July 2024 Summer CLE Legal Conference, presenter, “Section 504 in an IDEA World”
- Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB), Winter Conference Fall 2023, Co-presenter, “Cyberspace and Beyond: How to Handle Misinformation, Disgruntled Parents and Crisis Response on Social Media”
- Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB), Summer Law Clinic, July 2023, presenter, “Social Media, Employee and Student Issues Facing School Boards”
- Alabama Counsel of School Board Attorneys (ACSBA), July 2023 Summer CLE Legal Conference, presenter, “Lawyer Strategies on Dealing with the Media”
- Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS) Law Conference, Spring 2023, presenter, “Title IX and Transgender Issues in the K-12 Setting”
- Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools (CLAS), Fall 2022 Alabama Association of Middle School Principals/Alabama Association of Secondary School Principals (AAMSP/AASSP) Conference, presenter, “Title IX Compliance”
- Alabama Association of Special Personnel Administrators (ASPA), January 2022 HR Winter Conference, presenter, “Sexual Harassment in HR: When Title IX and Title VII Collide”
- Alabama Leaders in Educational Technology (ALET), Annual Symposium, September 2021, presenter, “When the Government Spies on You in School: What is a Reasonable Search”
- Alabama School Counselor Association (ASCA) Conference, February 2021, presenter, “The Evolution of Section 504: Non-discrimination, FAPE, and Accommodations in a Digital World”
- Alabama Association of School Boards (ASBA) Virtual Summer Legal Clinic, July 2020, presenter, “Student Discipline and Bullying”
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Education
- Texas Tech University School of Law, magna cum laude, J.D. | 2008
- Texas A&M University, B.S. | 2005
Bar Admissions
- Alabama
- Texas
- Florida
Court Admissions
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
Related Services
Experience
- Obtained a motion to dismiss in favor of a public school system client in a Title IX student sex discrimination lawsuit.
- Obtained motions for summary judgment in favor of a public school system client in student injury lawsuits filed under Section 1983.
- Assisted a public school board and public school system officials in policy drafting and implementation and successfully obtained legal and compliance waivers at the state level on behalf of a public school system client in order to open a comprehensive career workforce high school.
- Advised a public school board and system officials in negotiating and drafting a separation agreement for approval at the state level between a county and city school system.
- Obtained judgments in favor of a public school system client in multiple special education due process hearings at the state administrative level.
- Obtained dismissals in favor of a public school system client in multiple grievances filed with the Federal Office of Civil Rights on matters including Title IX, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Section 504.
- Obtained summary judgment in favor of a public school system client in a race discrimination employment lawsuit.
- Represented and advised a large public school system in drafting and implementing a multiple county and municipal law enforcement agencies agreement for a school system wide school resource officer program.
Education
- Texas Tech University School of Law, magna cum laude, J.D. | 2008
- Texas A&M University, B.S. | 2005
Bar Admissions
- Alabama
- Texas
- Florida
Court Admissions
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
Related Services
Affiliations
- Alabama Association of School Boards, Council of School Attorneys – President, 2024-2025; Board of Directors, 2021-2025
- National School Attorneys Association – Advocacy Committee Member, 2025-Present
- National Association of School Boards, Council of School Attorneys – Member, Present
Education
- Texas Tech University School of Law, magna cum laude, J.D. | 2008
- Texas A&M University, B.S. | 2005
Bar Admissions
- Alabama
- Texas
- Florida
Court Admissions
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama