This Charlotte divorce lawyer decided to start hosting a matchmaking event
Somehow, after 25 years of guiding people through failed marriages — plus enduring her own divorce — Nicole Sodoma still describes herself as a “marriage-loving divorce attorney.”
So much so, in fact, that the founder of Charlotte-based Sodoma Law earlier this year launched “Fresh Start Social,” a mixer aimed at giving divorced and separated adults a chance to meet other people navigating similar chapters of life. A second event is being planned for later in the year.
And yes, at first glance, the idea does sound almost contradictory: a divorce lawyer playing matchmaker.
But during a wide-ranging conversation at her uptown office this week, it quickly became clear that Sodoma’s interest in the event has less to do with casual dating than with the complicated realities of starting over after divorce.
Proof that second acts are possible
Given her profession — as well as the fact that she was a child of divorce and later went through one herself — Sodoma said people often assume she must be cynical about relationships.
Instead, she said the opposite is true.
“I think that two people can actually do it if they put the same level of effort they put into their academics, into their career, into their sports, into their family,” said Sodoma, who calls herself “a marriage-loving divorce attorney” so many times during the conversation that you’d think she’s trying to trademark it.
“If they both are able to put in the work, I think anything is possible.”
She joked that friends used to tease her by saying she had “her pick of the litter,” considering she spent all day around people who were newly single via separation or divorce.
But things got serious — in a good way — when she actually did fall for a man who had originally been referred to her firm as a client during his own separation (worth noting: she didn’t represent him). She said she’d read a book after her divorce that talked about how your family should make you feel “held and free.” That’s how George Kelada made her feel.
They married each other in April 2022.
Around the same time, Sodoma said, she found herself thinking more about clients who had emotionally moved beyond their divorces but still struggled with the practical and emotional realities of dating again.
So, she wondered: How do people in that stage of life actually meet each other?
Matchmaking, with ‘a healthy dose of skepticism’
That question eventually led to the creation of her “Fresh Start Social” mixers.
The first one was held around Valentine’s Day — “because,” Sodoma said, “when you’re going through separation and divorce, and it’s Valentine’s Day … it can become sad.” About 25 people showed up.
Sodoma greeted them with a few ground rules: no legal advice, no pressure and no guarantees. She joked that she hadn’t background-checked anyone in the room. She emphasized that she wasn’t making money and that all proceeds were going to charity. Then she handed out conversation-starter cards inspired by relationship therapist Esther Perel and watched as a room full of divorced and separated strangers tried to navigate the awkward optimism of starting over.
Some people mingled easily. Others lingered near the bar, clutching cocktails and scanning the room before finally introducing themselves to strangers.
But what struck Sodoma most — who calls it a matchmaking event but not herself a matchmaker — wasn’t the wide variety of personalities. It was the common bond everyone in the room shared, and the relief people seemed to feel simply by being surrounded by others who understood what they were going through.
The response reinforced her sense that the event was tapping into something real.
Still, Sodoma admitted something surprising: While clients and friends had responded enthusiastically to the idea, she hadn’t heard much about it from fellow attorneys. So in the middle of the interview at her law office this week, she stood up and called another lawyer into her office to ask for feedback directly.
The attorney who appeared in Sodoma’s doorway paused carefully before answering.
“I think attorneys generally are supportive of it,” the lawyer finally said, pausing for a beat before adding, “with a healthy dose of skepticism, as we’re looking out for the interests of our clients.” Then came the more candid version: “Sometimes we have to represent people that we don’t really think we should match up with people.”
Sodoma nodded, conceding it was a fair point. “Or maybe that aren’t ready to be matched,” she added.
She recalled one woman from the first “Fresh Start Social” whom she gently concluded “wasn’t ready” to begin dating again. But instead of focusing on setting her up with someone, Sodoma found herself introducing the woman to other women in the group.
In some ways, Sodoma said, that moment clarified what the supposed “matchmaking” events were actually becoming: spaces where people navigating divorce could simply feel less isolated.
But regardless of any skepticism, the concept seems to have given something back to Sodoma, too. And after the other attorney excused herself, Sodoma smiled and returned to talking about what she sees as the larger purpose of the event. “Divorce attorneys, we are always at the end of the relationship, at the dissolution,” she said.
“So being in the room with people who were open to the idea of beginnings instead of endings was really a breath of fresh air.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:58 PM.
