FLARE was founded as a project of the Law Office of Sondra Solovay. Founder Sondra Solovay, JD is a disabled attorney, author of Tipping the Scales of Justice, and co-editor of The Fat Studies Reader. During her career, Sondra was involved in numerous high-profile weight discrimination cases. Whether the issue involved accommodations, medical bias, employment, family law, or criminal defense, Sondra has always recognized weight discrimination as a civil rights matter that disproportionately impacts people of color.
In 2019, Sondra handed the reins for FLARE to Legal Director, Brandie Solovay. Brandie (she/her) is a fat, legally blind, lesbian attorney who practices discrimination, disability, immigration and criminal defense law. Fat Legal Advocacy, Rights and Education is a project of the Law Office of Brandie Solovay (FLARE!). Brandie is also the Supervising Attorney and Legal Director at two San Francisco nonprofits. She has experience supervising attorneys and paralegals, and enjoys providing mentorship to her interns.
Brandie received her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a major in Legal Studies and a minor in Film. Her Juris Doctor is from John F. Kennedy University School of Law, where she completed over 1,500 hours of public interest legal work. She’s been practicing law in California since 2009.
Brandie is passionate about advocating for under-served and marginalized individuals and educating people about their rights. Through her office’s FLARE! project, Brandie is excited to improve access to imaging for higher weight individuals; assist fat people in getting needed accommodations in healthcare, employment, education, and at places of public accommodation; and help create federal, state, and local laws that protect people from height and weight discrimination. Brandie understands that racism, white supremacy, and weight discrimination frequently intersect in ways that disproportionately burden certain communities, and she is dedicated to closing the legal loopholes that allow that injustice to continue. She is active in Disability Justice community and is a cofounder of the #NoBodyIsDisposable Coalition which was instrumental in helping improve California’s Crisis Care Guidelines.
FLARE is supported by an array of dedicated volunteers, to whom we are very grateful!