Sumner Fortenberry is a litigator in the firm’s Construction and Litigation practice groups. He helps construction and business clients navigate the legal issues they face in a variety of disputes in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings. He also maintains a robust appellate practice, drawing on his experience as a law clerk for the Hon. Leslie H. Southwick of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Sumner is thus able to aid clients from the inception of a lawsuit through the final stages of an appeal.

Sumner received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. During his time at UVA, he lived on a farm in the Virginia countryside and served on the Journal of Law and Politics. He also participated in the school’s First Amendment Clinic, assisting the clinic with brief writing in free speech cases in state and federal court.

Sumner also has a B.A. (summa cum laude) in Political Science from Mississippi State University. During his time at State, he was named an Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Political Science and selected to the Society of Scholars. Sumner also spent a summer at the University of Oxford, where he studied the American Constitution and interpretative theory.