About Murillo Law Firm
Murillo Law Firm is a trust and estate planning firm owned and operated by Sarah Murillo. Sarah prides herself by her integrity, strong work ethic, and compassion to help others.
If you chose to work with Sarah, you will be working with someone who truly cares about others, will make sure you leave knowing all your options, and will be available to help guide you and answer all your questions along the way. You will leave her office knowing that she can be trusted to help you make the best estate plan for you and your family’s needs.
Sarah believes in building relationships and knows that life is dynamic with changes along your life’s journey. That means an estate plan should never be one and done. It is important to review your plan and take into consideration any changes in your family dynamics like divorce, death, or potential legislative changes that could impact your plan. At Murillo Law Firm, we hope to build long lasting relationships.
About Me
Sarah is an Arizona native and has spent her entire life living in the west valley. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Ernest, and has three grown children, Chano, Alycia, and Virginia. Chano is an emergency room nurse at Banner Estrella hospital, Alycia recently graduated from Arizona State University with her Biomedical Sciences degree, and Virginia is in Nursing School through the concurrent enrollment program with Estrella Community College and Arizona State University.
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Sarah has dreamed of opening up her own Estate Planning Firm and using her passion to help others by creating advanced plans so people can designate who they want their possessions to go to when they pass, designate who they want to make health and financial decisions if they are unable to do so for themselves, name guardians for their children, help avoid family conflicts, and avoid probate court. She also wants to help families pass on their values, traditions, and family history through life story videos and letters. We often lose the opportunity to ask the really important questions because we think we will live forever and then that opportunity passes us by. Sarah wants to capture all those important memories.
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Sarah retired from a career with the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department , the 4th largest county in the United States, where she supervised multiple Divisions and oversaw the Community Supervision Bureau. Sarah used her passion to help youth make positive changes in their lives and create long term success.
Sarah is an accomplished Deputy Chief Probation Officer with 21 years of progressive experience in juvenile justice and government administration. She was repeatedly recognized for top performance through fast-track promotions and selection to lead high priority initiatives. She has implemented several complex system improvement initiatives including the Crossover Youth Practice Model which improves outcomes of youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. She also brought awareness to victims of sex trafficking by working on a collaborative with other child serving stakeholders, initiating a screening tool to identify youth that was later validated by Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (STIR), and creating dedicated caseloads. Sarah was recognized as a collaborative leader who brought together both internal and external juvenile stakeholders to implement juvenile justice reform efforts and developed long term professional relationships.
She has an extremely diverse background in operations, program development, project management, casework management, budget and procurement, training curriculum development, drafting policy, research and analysis, human resources, and strategic planning. She has a strong knowledge base across a wide array of legal topics.
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When Sarah is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family hiking, cooking, watching movies, having game nights, and going on family vacations. Sarah enjoys reading, swimming, and dancing.
Accomplishments
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Publication: "21st Century Slaves: Children Reduced to Products, Captured in the Business of Supply and Demand," Phoenix Law Review, Arizona Edition:Volume VI Spring 2013.
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Presentation: Diagnosing the Problem: Connecting the Dots for Juvenile Justice Involved Youth with Mental Health Needs at the International Academy of Mental Health and Law Conference in Berlin, Germany in July 2011.
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Presentation: Crossover Youth Initiative, Judicial Leadership Conference October 2014.
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Presentation: Crossover Youth Practice Model, American Probation and Parole Association October 2016.
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Certified Kids at Hope Instructor, Hope University at Arizona State University
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Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: Multi-systemic Integration Certificate Program and Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Fellow, Georgetown University
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Certified Court Manager, National Center for State Courts
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Certified Crucial Conversations Instructor
Education
Juris Doctor
Phoenix School of Law
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Cum Laude Graduate
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Phoenix School of Law Merit Scholarship
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CALI Award Family Law
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CALI Award Property Law
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Law Review Staff Editor
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President Juvenile Law Society
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Health Law Society Member
Sarah attended law school while simultaneously working full-time. She managed to continue working full-time during her entire law school experience, excel academically, maintain her Merit Scholarship throughout law school, and graduate cum laude. She received the highest grade awards in Family Law and Property Law. She was selected to be a Staff Editor for Law Review due to her academic excellence and was published in her law review journal. Also, in her first year of law school she completed her advanced writing requirement, it was chosen as the top paper by her professors, and she was selected to present at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH) in Berlin, Germany.
Bachelor of Science
Arizona State University
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Magna Cum Laude graduate
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ASU Dean's List
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Alpha Phi Sigma Criminal Justice Honor Society
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Golden Key National Honor Society
Sarah graduated at the top of her class at Arizona State University. She interned at the Peoria Police Department's Victim Advocate's office and was trained in brief intervention crisis response. She was in the honor society and consistently on the ASU Dean's List.
Memberships and Affiliations
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Member of the State Bar of Arizona
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Member of the Maricopa County Bar Association
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Member of the Maricopa County West Valley Bar Association
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Friends of the Southwest Family Advocacy Center, Board Member
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BNI Goodyear Legacy, Education Coordinator