Sophia Hall is the Deputy Litigation Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), an organization founded at the request of President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. LCR is one of the largest and oldest organizations in New England working on legal and policy issues at the intersection of racial justice, immigration, public health, and entrepreneurship. Sophia joined LCR in 2016.
An experienced and award-winning litigator, Sophia handles a broad range of civil rights matters, with a particular focus on cases related to employment and policing. Sophia actively represents people of color and immigrant women to protect their rights in the workplace and in the community. She filed a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit against a prominent national restaurant chain expanding #MeToo to #YoTambien. Sophia also has a growing practice focused on dismantling barriers to diversity in public agencies. She has successfully resolved precedent-setting racial profiling matters creating a blueprint for police departments across the country to implement comprehensive implicit bias and search/seizure training.
Additionally, Sophia manages the largest and oldest non-partisan Election Protection campaign in New England training and coordinating over 2000 poll monitors to ensure equal access to the ballot box.
Sophia’s cutting-edge legal work is regularly featured in publications such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal, and NPR.
Prior to joining LCR, Sophia was a Staff Attorney with AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, New England’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization. There, she represented low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS in a wide range of issues. She also advised the organization on legal matters.
Sophia has served on the leadership of the Boston Bar Association’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Section, the Women’s Bar Association, and the Editorial Boards of the Boston Bar Association Journal and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, the Boston Bar Association appointed Sophia to the Task Force on Ensuring Police Accountability. She was also a member of the Massachusetts Commission to Study and Examine Civil Service Laws established by the Massachusetts Police Reform Bill.
Most recently, Sophia was appointed by Governor Maura Healey to the Council for Black Empowerment, where she advises the Commonwealth on community matters. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Community Servings, a non-profit organization that provides medically-tailored meals to low-income people living with disabilities.
Sophia is a graduate of Emory University, and Boston College Law School. She is also a recent graduate of Harvard Business School’s Executive Leadership Program for Women of Color.
Honors & Awards:
Read Sophia’s op-ed writing in the Boston Business Journal.