About Sonya Tien
Principal
Honors & Awards
Specializations
Speaking Engagements
Publications
Education
Bar & Court Admissions
Sonya has built a performance-based law practice committed to client service and satisfaction. Sonya received her law degree from Columbia Law School, where she was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and her business degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School, where she earned seventeen scholarships. She is licensed to practice in North Carolina, New York, and California.
Before founding Tien Law Firm, Sonya practiced law in New York at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP, where her practice included complex litigation, mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate, and white collar defense and global investigations. Sonya co-authored Fried Frank’s monthly White Collar Criminal Defense and Securities Enforcement Memorandum.
Sonya served as a judicial intern for The Honorable Magistrate George H. Lowe for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, where she gained valuable experience with commercial litigation, and civil and criminal jury trials.
Sonya has helped clients navigate the SEC, FDA, DOJ, and TTAB for federal investigations and litigation matters involving healthcare, securities, and intellectual property. Sonya also advises companies and individuals in intellectual property matters, insurance disputes, litigation strategy, and corporate governance and regulatory compliance. She has provided legal services for Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, CBRE, Tishman Speyer, and Catalent Pharma Solutions.
Sonya’s work has been published by the Wall Street Lawyer and Practising Law Institute, and her team’s litigation victory in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York received widespread international media attention. Sonya has also been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers since 2020.
Representative matters include:
- Representing Plaintiffs’ for catastrophic injuries in tractor-trailer litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to obtain multiple pre-trial settlements.
- Serving as Plaintiff’s wrongful death lawyer to obtain a favorable pre-litigation settlement against State Farm.
- Serving as Plaintiff’s trial lawyer in permanent injury litigation in Wake County Superior Court against State Farm to obtain a pre-trial settlement.
- Representing beauty brand, Painted Plus, LLC, for a buyout.
- Representing Viva, LLC, Grenelle Holdings, LLC, and R2 Ventures, LLC for commercial real estate acquisitions.
- Serving on the litigation team for JPMorgan Chase in a landmark hostile takeover M&A matter in the Delaware Chancery Court.
- Serving on the litigation team for a pharmaceutical company’s M&A dispute.
- Serving on the defense litigation team for Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital for a securities class action litigation in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
- Serving on the defense litigation team for Credit Suisse regarding mortgage-backed securities litigation.
- Serving on the white-collar defense team for a leading investment bank for an investigation by the DOJ.
- Serving on the defense trial team for CBRE and Tishman Speyer for commercial real estate litigation in the Supreme Court of New York.
- Serving on the litigation team who obtained a summary judgment landmark win for a pharmaceutical suit against the FDA and DHHS in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.