Sorkin was born to a Jewish family[2] in Manhattan[3] and raised in the New York City suburb of Scarsdale.[4] His mother was a schoolteacher and his father a copyright lawyer who had fought in WWII and put himself through college on the G.I. Bill; both his older sister and brother went on to become lawyers.[5][6][7] His paternal grandfather was one of the founders of the International Ladies' Garm