Sara Frankenstein

Attorney - Rapid City

Contact 6053421078 (605) 342-9503

Sara Frankenstein is a partner of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore, LLP. She practices in the areas of Employment Law, Insurance Defense, General Litigation, Election Law, Governmental, Administrative, and Municipal Law.

Sara earned her Bachelors of Art and Juris Doctor from the University of South Dakota. She served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Richard H. Battey, U.S. District Court, South Dakota in 2001 and 2002.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently appointed Sara to a four-year term on the South Dakota Advisory Committee as the Vice-Chair, which reports to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Sentinel Federal Credit Union, which has eight locations across South Dakota, also recently appointed Sara to its board of directors for a three-year term. 

Sara is the city attorney for three towns and represents a number of charitable organizations, individuals, and businesses in the Black Hills area and beyond. She has successfully argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc (all 11 judges), successfully briefed a case to the United States Supreme Court. In 2009, she won the smoking ban election law trial, which was the lead South Dakota news story that year. Sara has been selected as a Super Lawyer for the last five years in the areas of Legislative and Governmental Affairs. 

Sara serves on a number of other boards and enjoys singing, emceeing, speaking, and involvement in her church and community. She and her husband Lew have three children.

Teri Farland
Advanced Certified Paralegal
(605) 342-1078

Education

  • Law School: University of South Dakota, J.D. - 2001 
  • Undergraduate School: University of South Dakota, B.A. - 1997 

Admitted to the Bar

  • State of South Dakota - 2002
  • Oglala Sioux Tribal Court (Pine Ridge) - 2020

Professional Memberships

  • State Bar of South Dakota
  • American Bar Association
  • South Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Vice Chair 
  • Sentinel Federal Credit Union; Board of Directors 
  • Pennington County Republican Women; President 
  • Women's Suffrage Centennial Education Board 
  • South Dakota Federated Republican Women Board of Directors 
  • Executive Director and Producer of the Miss Rapid City Scholarship Program 

Honors and Recognition

  • Super Lawyers “Great Plains Super Lawyers,” 2016
  • Super Lawyers “Great Plains Super Lawyers” as a Top Rated Legislative & Governmental Affairs Attorney, 2017

Biography

  • Law Clerk to Hon. Richard H. Battey. Judge, U.S. District Court, South Dakota - 2001-2002

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