 He was a noted legal scholar of Labor Law and an expert in employment discrimination.Sovern was born in the Bronx to a dress businessman father and bookkeeper mother.He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1949, "summa cum laude" from Columbia College in New York City in 1953, and Columbia Law School in 1955, receiving the prestigious John Ordronaux prize for having the highest academic average in his graduating class.