Sarah E. C. Malia, MS, JD, is an elder law and probate attorney, appointed fiduciary, and an adjunct professor in the Legal Clinic, a nonprofit law firm inside UTK’s Law School. Since 2006 she has advocated for and served clients in the elder law realm, sharing her holistic approach to unraveling life’s tangles and navigating aging’s rocky waters. Sarah has extensive training and experience in elder and family law and alternative dispute resolution processes. She has worked “in the trenches” as a court-appointed or private agent for folks in various fiduciary capacities since 2008. From 2011 until 2023 she also taught a family dynamics general education course in the former Child & Family Studies Department at UTK, incorporating basic legal education in her classes and bolstered by an overqualified teaching assistant, Julia Malia, PhD, her mother, retired faculty who used to teach the same course.

Sarah graduated with honors with a B.S. in Family Studies from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She received her J.D. in law and M.S. in family studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Along with maintaining a private legal practice, Sarah expanded her work in 2020 to include taking over leading the Wills Clinic along with Anne McKinney’s estate planning team, with Sarah, Victoria Tillman, and Patrick McKenrick co-teaching and assisting UTK’s Legal Clinic clients on an ongoing basis. As of 2024, Sarah and Miranda Goodwin have served as co-instructors (and cat herders) of the Wills Clinic, balancing its demands with their shared private practices. The partnership of Malia and Goodwin law firm became official as of January 2025 this year. The importance of education and giving back to their community are values that they share. Sarah has been blessed with many close friends and family and with Sophie, the most amazing dog in the world (okay, she *might* be biased, but at least she realizes Sophie adopted and trained her more than the other way around).

• Education & Experience

B.S., University of Tennessee
M.S., University of Missouri-Columbia
J.D., University of Missouri-Columbia