Sara Aguiñiga protects public funds and interests, including health and consumer rights, through representation of public entities.
Sara is a member of the firm’s litigation team representing dozens of governmental entities, including states, cities, towns, counties and townships targeting the alleged misrepresentation and over-distribution of highly addictive prescription drugs by opioid manufacturers and distributors, a suspected cause of the opioid epidemic. She also litigates complex cases involving alleged health care fraud, in addition to representing the Cherokee Nation in litigation filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies related to the False Claims Act. She is also pursuing litigation against an auto-loan company alleged to have engaged in unfair lending practices, and a pro bono immigration case involving an unaccompanied minor.
Prior to joining Motley Rice, Sara served as a bilingual witness specialist at a Washington, D.C. law firm, where she maintained compliance enforcement for confidential cases involving nursing homes, interviewed and prepared potential witnesses for trial in Spanish and English, and represented pro bono clients in state courts.
While pursuing her law degree, Sara helped represent asylum-seekers and advocated for labor rights for migrant workers as a student attorney for the Washington, D.C. Immigration Justice Clinic. She clerked for a Maryland law firm, completing research on immigration law, deportation, asylum and human trafficking, and writing briefs submitted to immigration court and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She also clerked for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, interviewing and preparing jailed clients for direct and cross-examinations.
