After twenty years working in real estate and economic development, and starting and running two businesses, Sophie decided to start a mediation practice. Her experience as a lawyer, consultant and business founder prompted her to focus on conflict resolution because she saw so many great projects and deals fail due to seemingly small disputes that the parties were unable to navigate successfully. In her personal life she also witnessed friends and family struggling with difficult transitions: separations, divorce, the care of aging parents and the transfer of family properties and businesses. In many cases attorneys were retained, but the time and expense of attorneys, and their rights-based approach to the problem, often heightened the conflict. Mediation provided an alternative to litigation, while still providing a structure and process that can allow parties to think about solutions, rather than focus on the conflict.

Sophie trained as a mediator with Elizabeth Clemants of Planning Change in New York City. Sophie is certified to mediate family and small business disputes. Sophie is a graduate of Brown University, BA Urban Studies, and Harvard Law School, JD. She is a member of the New York Bar. Sophie worked in New York City for many years as a lawyer and consultant representing for profit developer, not for profit community development corporations and municipalities. She is Vice Chair of the Billion Oyster Project in New York City, an organization working with public high school students to restore the oyster beds in New York Harbor.