Sarah Wade represents lenders, banks and borrowers in complex financing transactions and provides in-depth regulatory counsel to clients in two of the most heavily regulated industries in the country: financial services and alcohol manufacturing and distribution.
Sarah has worked on behalf of financial institutions and other lenders and borrowers in connection with commercial lending transactions of all sizes and types. She has represented clients in connection with secured, unsecured, single lender, syndicated, asset-based, acquisition, and automobile floorplan lending.
Sarah has a strong connection to the banking world and the specific needs of banking and finance professionals. After working for several years at a community bank, she served for nearly eight years as a bank examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Sarah taps her extensive regulatory experience to assist banks and financial institutions with day-to-day compliance questions, in particular as they relate to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and various other anti-money laundering laws and regulations. She also assists financial institutions in drafting internal bank policies.
Sarah has also served as counsel for alcohol industry clients and provides guidance on the wide range of regulatory and corporate issues connected to the manufacturing and distribution of alcohol, including compliance with industry trade practices. She helps procure city, state, county and federal licenses and permits and certificates of label approval, and has negotiated and drafted commercial contracts on behalf of these clients, including contract and alternating proprietor production arrangements and wholesaler agreements.
Professional
- American Bar Association
- Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists
- Missouri Bankers Association
- The Missouri Bar Association
- The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
- The Illinois State Bar Association
Community
- Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis
- Volunteer, 2011-Present
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® (by BL Rankings), 2023-2025
- Included in the “Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers” Rising Stars (by Thomson Reuters), 2012-2019
- Named an Up & Coming Attorney (by Missouri Lawyers Weekly), 2017