Jill Sopha

Jill Hamill Sopha is Owner and Managing Director of Sopha Mediation LLC.  As a full-time attorney mediator, Jill combines her legal experience with her passion to help parties find resolutions to disputes and litigation through mediation. 

Jill has 25 years of experience practicing as an attorney. She has crafted resolutions to hundreds of disputes ranging from informal complaints to administrative charges and state and federal litigation. 

Jill is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN). NADN is a professional association of ADR professionals, and membership is by invitation only.  All Academy members have been found to meet stringent practice criteria, and are amongst the most in-demand neutrals in their respective states.  

Jill is also a member of the nationally recognized Association of Attorney Mediators (AAM). AAM is a group of self-selected dispute resolution professionals who meet qualification and ethical standards for their practice.  For disputes covered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Jill is on the panel of AAA-approved employment mediators.

In addition to her mediation practice, Jill is an Adjunct Professor at Marquette Law School, where she teaches law students how to effectively advocate for their clients in a “Mediation Advocacy” workshop. Jill has also co-taught a “Negotiation” workshop, and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of

Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s School of Continuing Education where she teaches Human Resource professionals on conducting investigations and employment law basics.  

Jill is a frequent speaker on topics involving mediation, with a particular focus on avoiding and resolving conflict and litigation.

Prior to opening Sopha Mediation LLC, Jill spent 15 years in Legal and Human Resources leadership roles at Fortune 500 Company Harley-Davidson, Inc. As Chief Counsel, Human Resources for Harley-Davidson, Jill provided primary direction and guidance on all HR-related legal issues, developed and implemented a Global HR Compliance program, and led a team of HR professionals responsible for providing day-to-day HR support. Before her work at Harley-Davidson, Jill was an attorney at the law firms Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C. in Madison, WI, and Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Chicago, IL.

Jill is also a member of several professional organizations, including:

•        National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals

•        American Arbitration Association (AAA) Employment Mediation Panel

•        Association of Attorney Mediators (AAM)

•        Wisconsin Bar Association – Labor and Employment Section Treasurer, Vice Chair and Chair (2018-21); Dispute Resolution Section Board Member (2017-19)

•        Milwaukee Bar Association – Labor and Employment Section Co-Chair (2017-20)

•        American Bar Association (ABA) 

•        Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association (EDWBA)

•        Association for Women Lawyers (AWL) 

•        Wisconsin Association of Mediators (WAM)

•        Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA)

•        Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Jill has completed over 250 hours of mediation training, including 40-hour programs at the nationally renowned Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine’s University School of Law and at Chicago’s Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR).

In 2017, Jill was invited to be a mediator for Wisconsin’s Special Education Mediation System (WSEMS), where she helps parents and schools work together to resolve disputes about special education. 

Jill has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with distinction, from the University of Wisconsin – Madison Business School (1993), and obtained her Juris Doctorate degree, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School (1996).