Sara Murray is an appellate attorney whose practice embraces all aspects of civil appellate law. In state and federal appellate courts, her practice includes briefing, oral argumentation, and motions. In state and federal trial courts, she provides litigation support to clients and trial attorneys during all stages of the litigation process. Her litigation-support practice includes legal research and analysis, error preservation, and the drafting of pleadings, dispositive motions, jury charges, post-verdict motions, judgments, post-judgment motions, and notices of appeal. Ms. Murray has handled many types of trial and appellate litigation throughout her career, but her main focus has been on commercial, oil and gas, and bankruptcy cases.
Sara Murray
- St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D. (magna cum laude), 1991
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University of Texas at San Antonio
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B.A. (with honors), 1979
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M.A., 1981
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- American Bankruptcy Institute
- American Bar Association
- American Bar Association Council of Appellate Lawyers
- American Bar Association Judicial Division
- Federal Bar Association
- Fifth Circuit Bar Association
- San Antonio Bar Association
- San Antonio Bar Foundation
- Texas Bar Foundation
- College of the State Bar of Texas
- Bexar County Women’s Bar Association
- United States District Court Western District of Texas, 1992
- United States District Court Northern District of Texas, 1993
- United States District Court Southern District of Texas, 1993
- United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit, 1993
- United States District Court Eastern District of Texas, 1995
- United States Supreme Court, 1996
- Phi Delta Phi since 1989
- Note and Comment Editor for St. Mary’s Law Journal, Volume 22, Fall 1990 – Spring 1991
- John M. Harlan Society honor society of St. Mary’s University School of Law, 1991
- College of the State Bar of Texas since 1996
- Woman of the Year in Legal Services, National Association of Professional Women, 2011-2012
- American Inns of Court, William S. Sessions Chapter since 2012
- San Antonio’s Best Lawyers- Appellate Law, SA Scene magazine, 2006-2015; 2018 (Bankruptcy)
- Best Lawyers in America (published by Woodward and White), Trusts & Estates, 2026
- Appellate Practice
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Commercial Litigation
Personal Information
In law school, Ms. Murray was Note and Comment Editor for the St. Mary’s Law Journal, Volume 22, Fall 1990 – Spring 1991. She has been a member of Phi Delta Phi since 1989, and in 1991, she was selected for the John M. Harlan Society, the honor society of St. Mary’s University School of Law. After graduating from law school, Ms. Murray was law clerk to the Honorable Leif M. Clark, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division from 1991 – 1992. Ms. Murray is active in the San Antonio Bar Association – having served as Articles Editor for the association’s bi-monthly, award-winning magazine, San Antonio Lawyer, since 1996 – 2025 and recently retired as Editor-in-Chief; as an officer of the San Antonio Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section since 2004; and as the official reporter of the Federal Courts Committee since 2010. She is also a member of the William S. Sessions American Inn of Court. In 2001-2002, Ms. Murray was Chair of the Tortious Interference Subcommittee of the State Bar of Texas, Pattern Jury Charges, Vol. 4 Committee. She served as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at St. Mary’s University School of Law from 1994-2006. Since August 2005, Ms. Murray has consistently been named by her peers as one of San Antonio’s Best Lawyers in Appellate Law in SA Scene magazine. In 2011-2012, she was selected as Woman of the Year in the Legal Profession by the National Association of Professional Women.
Ms. Murray is the mother of two sons, and the grandmother of two granddaughters and two grandsons. She is an avid fan of almost all college and professional sports, but especially NBA basketball and the San Antonio Spurs. She loves music, theater, and traveling, among other interests.
Cases & Publications
- “Appellate Whine: A Discussion Group for Lawyers who Draft Jury Charges,” CLE Speaker- October 9, 2013
- “Reagan v. Bichsel, a Noteworthy Opinion,” San Antonio Lawyer, July-August 2012
- “Thoughts of Ralph G. Langley upon the Dedication of Langley Elementary,” San Antonio Lawyer, November-December 2009
- “Bankruptcy Appeals: A Primer,” San Antonio Lawyer, May-June 2007
- “Ways to Ensure that Your Legal Writing Effectively Says What You Mean,” State Bar of Texas, Texas Advanced Paralegal Seminar, September 2008
- “Honored to Serve: The All-Woman Fourth Court of Appeals,” San Antonio Lawyer, July-August 2005
- “The Whole Truth or Nothing But the Truth? Should Advertising Attorneys be Required to Disclose Prior Disciplinary Actions Taken Against Them?” St. Mary’s Law Journal, Volume 21:4, 1990
- “Good writing takes years of practice,” San Antonio Express-News, January 17, 1988
