Woolf, McClane, Bright, Allen & Carpenter, PLLC

Sonda L. Gifford is an associate with the firm whose practice focuses primarily on employment law and commercial litigation. Ms. Gifford assists clients with discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge and noncompetition matters, as well as the preparation of personnel policies and procedures. Ms. Gifford also provides guidance for employers regarding immigration compliance issues. Ms. Gifford received her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2003.

Ms. Gifford was born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of West Florida in 1998 with a B.A. in communication/ journalism. In 2003, Ms. Gifford received her J.D. from the University of Tennessee, graduating with honors. While in Law School, Ms. Gifford was a member of the Tennessee Law Review and the Robert Wagner Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Team. Her comment regarding legal ethics, Burying the Hatchet: Do Tennessee’s New Screening Rules Leave the Clinard Handle Sticking Out, was published in the Fall 2002 volume of The Tennessee Law Review. Since its publication, Ms. Gifford’s comment has received the Jerry J. Phillips Award for Outstanding Student Written Comment and the Hunton & Williams Law Review Prize. Ms. Gifford has also had her article regarding employment offer letters published in DICTA, a publication of the Knoxville Bar Association.

Ms. Gifford currently serves as the District 3 Representative for the Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, the Mock Trial chair of the Knoxville Bar Association’s Barristers, and is also a member of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association. Ms. Gifford lectures frequently on various employment and immigration issues.