Sofiya is licensed to practice law in the courts of the State of New York. She is a member of the NYC Bar Association (Legal Problems of the Aging Committee), NYS Bar Association (Elder Law & Special Needs and Trusts & Estates Sections), NY Women’s Bar Association (Elder Law & Disabilities and Trusts & Estates Committees), and Brooklyn Bar Association (Elder Law Committee and National Grid Foundation Senior Legal Education and Assistance Program). As a BBA Senior LEAP member, Sofiya frequently presents at Brooklyn senior centers to educate the elderly about the importance of advance directives. Sofiya is also a volunteer attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group’s Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program, assisting clients with obtaining Medicaid coverage and home care services and providing representation to low-income Russian-speaking clients in challenges of unfair denials and reductions of vital home care services. Sofiya was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (former USSR) and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1991. Sofiya obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management Information Systems, with distinction, from the University of Michigan – Dearborn and her Juris Doctor degree from the New York Law School. While in law school, Sofiya participated in the school’s Elder Law Clinic, served on the board of the NYLS Chapter of the National Academy for Elder Law Attorneys, and interned for a guardianship judge in the New York State Supreme Court in the Kings County and a surrogate judge in the New York State Surrogate's Court in the New York County. She was a student editor for the New York State Bar Association’s Elder and Special Needs Law Journal, a frequent contributor to the school’s Just Families legal blog, and wrote for the New York Law Review’s Juvenile Justice Symposium issue. Additionally, Sofiya assisted domestic violence victims with obtaining orders of protection in family court and in safety planning. Upon graduating from law school, Sofiya volunteered with the New York Legal Assistance Group’s Total Life Choices Unit, where she prepared advance directives and wills, assisted unrepresented clients with initiating probate and estate administration proceedings, developed a step-by-step guide for unrepresented Article 81 guardianship petitioners, and served as liaison and interpreter for Russian-speaking clients. Prior to establishing her own practice in 2014, Sofiya worked as an associate with the Law Office of Antar P. Jones, PLLC focusing on estate planning and administration matters, and as an assistant court attorney for a guardianship judge in the New York County Supreme Court. |