Ms. Sophia Elaine Haynes

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Sophia Haynes entered active military service and began her legal career at the Army Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1998. As a Judge Advocate, Captain Haynes practiced various areas of the law including civil, administrative, labor & employment, operational law and criminal. She also deployed to Kuwait and Egypt on military assignments. During Operation Enduring Freedom, right after the September 11th attack, she served as legal counsel for two and three-star generals on the legal staff of Third United States Army. She also advised senior military officials on the administration of justice and legal maneuvers. In 1999, she was promoted to the position of Client Services Division Chief and provided legal services for over four hundred military personnel. She also served as Senior Judge Advocate for Third U.S. Army’s legal office. She received an Honorable Discharge and earned the Army’s Achievement Medal and Post Commander Service Award.
Upon completion of her military service, Ms. Haynes formed The Legal Group, where she practiced Business Law, Estate Planning, Real Estate Law and Civil Litigation. She then served as the Chief Assistant Solicitor for the Clayton County Solicitor General’s Office. As lead prosecutor, she prosecuted criminal offenders as well as supervised an attorney staff of (9) attorneys and (4) State Court Rooms. She also served in the DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office as a Senior Trial Attorney. During her career, Sophia has prosecuted thousands of cases and has appeared as lead prosecutor in over 100 bench and jury trials to date. She has also successfully briefed and argued cases before both the Court of Appeals of Georgia and the Georgia Supreme Court. During her years of as a prosecutor, Ms. Haynes served as a Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.) Certified Instructor. In this capacity, she has served as guest instructor for the DeKalb Regional Police Academy, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia and Georgia Police Academy. Ms. Haynes re-entered federal service as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Labor in 2010 She then accepted a trial attorney position with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) in 2016. In 2018, she was promoted to her current position of Deputy Chief Counsel with the VA where she oversees the labor and employment as well as the advisory legal services function for the medical centers and regional offices in 3 states of a multi-state legal district.
Ms. Haynes is a member of the Georgia and Louisiana State Bar Associations. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the 2022 Class of Leadership Henry. Ms. Haynes is an active member of World Changers Church International where she served for years as an usher and coordinated legal training events as a member of the Legal Resources Department. Ms. Haynes regularly speaks at community events on legal topics and has appeared as a guest on WATC-TV 57 and Trinity Broadcasting Network.