Page 19 - Dallas Vol 6 No 1

making sure they’re in compliance with the steadily increasing level of complex State and Federal laws.
Sumner o en cites the advantages of a small rm even while going up against much larger rms. “We have very experienced lawyers who le large law rms. We don’t have the rigid bureaucracy that the big rms have and we enjoy that. We don’t have a bunch of com- mittees and our very experienced lawyers like it that way.”
Although Sumner remains fully active in the rm, he is “shi ing more of the heavy li ing” to his son. Justin Sumner is a trial at- torney who is experienced in a wide range of general civil and complex commercial litiga- tion matters in state and federal courts. He joined the rm in 2006. His primary focus consists of rst and second chairing jury tri- als, arbitrations, bench trials, motion practice, settlement negotiations, discovery planning, and he has taken and defended hundreds of depositions throughout the country. He suc- cessfully defended two cases, as lead counsel, for CSC against IBM in White Plains, New York. He was lead counsel and recovered mil- lions of dollars for a Whistleblower in which the case received national attention. Justin is currently lead counsel prosecuting a civil rights case, representing Miranda Griggs, in Federal Court in Houston. e case has been on the cover of both e Houston Press and e Dallas Observer.
Sumner says, “My son is the future of Sum- ner Schick. He’s not some kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s in his twel h year and is a very experienced lawyer. He’s tried lots of cases with me and on his own. In fact, we tried a case together last year in Federal Court in the Eastern District of Virginia. He’s represented all these major companies and handled major disputes. I’m not retired at all. I’m practicing full time, but I’m very fortunate to have someone of Justin’s experience and ca- pability to evolve the law rm in to the future generations.”
AN EVOLVING PERSONAL LIFE
As with his career, Sumner’s personal life
continually changes. Perhaps that is best ex-
empli ed by the changes in his family life. “I
buy into the philosophy if you build a eld,
they will come. Our eld is a lake house on
Cedar Creek Lake. It’s a fabulous place for
the family, especially our two sons, Justin and
Grant, their wives, and our ve grand kids.
ey love it and we, as a family, love to spend
quality family time at the lake house.” STEVE SUMNER (SEATED) TELLS US: “MY SON IS THE FUTURE OF SUMNER SCHICK.”
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