Professional Associations and Memberships

• Member of Montgomery County National Association of Estate Planners & Councils

Awards and Acknowledgements

• First Place, 2021 Kenneth Black, Jr., Journal Author Award by the Society of Financial Service Professionals for the co-authored article, “The Value of Delayed Social Security Claiming for Higher-Earning Women”, published in the Journal of Financial Planning, September 2021.

• Scholar in Residence, Cary M. McGuire Center for Ethics in Financial Services (Nov. 2020-present)

• Charles E. Drimal Estate Planning Professorship Chair, (Jan. 2023 – present)

• Jarrett L. Davis Chair in Finance and Accounting Planning Technology (Jan. 2021 – present)

• Zimmerman Chair in Insurance (Jan. 2020 – Jan. 2021)

Peer Reviewed Publications

• Sophia Duffy, Daniel Hiebert, and Leon Chen. The Role of Financial Planners on African-American Business Owner’s Personal Credit and Access to Capital. Journal of Financial Planning, October 2022.

• Sophia Duffy, Michael Finke, & David Blanchett. The Value of Delayed Social Security Claiming for Higher-Earning Women. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, September 2021.

• Sophia H. Duffy & Azish Filabi. AI-Enabled Underwriting Brings New Challenges for Life Insurance: Policy and Regulatory Considerations. NAIC Journal of Insurance Regulation, Vol. 40, No. 8. 2022.

• Sophia Duffy. Accredited and Aging: Exposing Older Investors to Fraud Through the Accredited Investor Provisions. Journal of Aging Law & Policy, Stetson University, Spring 2022.

• Sophia H. Duffy & Steven Parrish. You Say Fiduciary, I Say Binary: A Review and Recommendation of Robo-Advisors and the Fiduciary and Best Interest Standards, Forthcoming Publication: Hastings Business Law Journal (Winter 2020).

• Sophia H. Duffy & Jamie P. Hopkins, Sit, Stay, Drive: The Future of Autonomous Car Liability, Southern Methodist University Science and Technology Law Review (Fall 2013).

• Panelist, Behavioral Finance and the Intersection of Life and Money, Investment News Women Adviser Summit, November 2022.

JD, CPA

Ms. Duffy practices in the areas of Estate Planning, Guardianship and Small Business Planning. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and an Associate Professor of Estate and Small Business Planning at The American College of Financial Services. Sophia's goal with every client is to use her wealth of knowledge regarding complex financial matters and estate planning to educate her clients and help them formulate an estate or business plan that best suits their needs.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Duffy practiced as a Certified Public Accountant, specializing in audit and internal process controls for both large corporations and not for profit institutions. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Rutgers University. After several years of working in the professional finance world, she became an attorney to fulfill her dream of helping individuals plan for and protect their financial security. She received her Juris Doctorate from Temple University.

In her free time, Ms. Duffy enjoys exercise, watching science fiction movies, listening to music, and spending time with her husband, 3 children, and 2 dogs.