Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, President, ALDC, Partner, Sutherland LLP
Allegra J. Lawrence-Hardy
Partner
Atlanta
404.853.8497
allegra.lawrence-hardy@sablaw.com
Allegra is co-chair of the firm’s complex business litigation
group. Her practice includes commercial litigation and labor and
employment law. She has represented companies throughout the
United States and abroad in numerous trials and other forums.
Allegra has litigated cases in federal and state courts for
primarily Fortune 100 companies from California to New York
and has extensive experience negotiating complex settlements
and finding creative solutions. She is regularly quoted in the
media as a leading practitioner in her field.
Georgia Trend magazine recognized Allegra as one of “40
Under 40” Rising Stars in Georgia in 2003, and the magazine has
also repeatedly named her in the Georgia Trend “Legal Elite.”
She was featured on the cover of the 2006 “Legal Elite” edition.
The Fulton County Daily Report featured Allegra in its annual
“On the Rise” issue in August 2004. In 2005, Atlanta Woman
named her one of “Atlanta’s 25 Power Women to Watch.”
Atlanta Magazine has also repeatedly named her a “Georgia
Super Lawyer,” as well as regularly recognized her in its “Top
50 Female Georgia Super Lawyers.”
Allegra chairs the firm’s Diversity Committee and is a member
of the firm’s Hiring Committee. She is also a member of the
Board of Directors for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the
Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium, the Atlanta Girls School,
and Atlanta Legal Aid Society Board. She is a member of the
Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia. She previously
served on the Boards of Directors for the Justice Center of
Atlanta, the Georgia Chapter of Arthritis Foundation, Atlanta
Habitat for Humanity and the Robert C. Williams Museum of
Papermaking. She serves as pro bono counsel to the Atlanta
Women’s Foundation. She is a Past President of the Georgia
Association of Black Women Attorneys and currently chairs the
Women and Minorities in the Profession Committee of the State
Bar of Georgia. She is also a member of the Bleckley Inn of
Court, the Gate City Bar Association and the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers.
She was appointed to the Chief Justice’s Commission Committee on Professionalism, the Supreme Court’s Commission on Access and Fairness in the Courts, and the Mayor’s Commission on The Living Wage. She is a member of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association and a member of the leadership of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta and Leadership Georgia.
As Sutherland’s Diversity Partner, Allegra was the architect of
Sutherland Scholars, a summer pre-law school “boot camp”
offered at no cost for students from historically black colleges
and universities. The firm graduated its first class of Scholars in
2005 and has since expanded the program to include
Washington, D.C. Over 100 students have graduated from the
program. The Scholars learn skills targeted to help improve their
success in the first semester of law school. She regularly
mentors students from the program.
In 2007, Allegra was honored as the recipient of the Gate City
Bar Foundation’s A.T. Walden Outstanding Lawyer Award and
the Spirit of the Bench and Bar Award from the Black Law
Students Association at the Georgia State University School of
Law.
Before joining the firm in October 1997, Allegra served as law
clerk for Judge Susan H. Black of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.