Sumner Fortenberry is a commercial and construction litigator with a penchant for complex appellate matters. Sumner briefed, argued, and won his first appeal before he was 30 years old. He has handled appeals — some with tens of millions of dollars at stake — in multiple federal circuit courts and the Mississippi Supreme Court. Prior to joining Bradley, Sumner clerked for the Hon. Leslie H. Southwick of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Sumner also maintains a varied trial practice in federal and state court, as well as in arbitration proceedings. The primary focus of his trial practice is construction and commercial litigation, specifically cases involving breaches of contract and business torts. He also has experience in a wide variety of other substantive areas, including insurance coverage disputes, shareholder disputes, employment matters, and governmental affairs.
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 Mississippi 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.
Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers, "Rising Stars," 2024 Mississippi Bar Leadership Forum, Class of 2025 Levine v. B & R Acquisition Partners, LLC, No. 1:24-CV-939 (MAD), 2025 WL 2410467, at *1 (N.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2025) Successfully secured affirmance of bankruptcy court decision on the alternate ground that an attempted after-the-fact ratification of an unauthorized bankruptcy improperly stripped lienholder of valuable property rights. McNair v. Johnson, ---F.4th---No. 24-10153, 2025 WL 1923126 (11th Cir. July 14, 2025) Successfully secured affirmance of district court’s dismissal of Section 1983 lawsuit and clarifying district court’s discretion to do so for litigant’s failure to comply with local rules. First Kuwaiti Gen. Trading & Contracting W.L.L. v. Kellogg Brown & Root Int'l, Inc., ---F.4th---,No. 23-2121, 2025 WL 1689129, at *1 (4th Cir. June 17, 2025) Successfully secured affirmance of district court order confirming multimillion dollar arbitral award and enforcing 9 U.S.C. 12’s statute of limitations against untimely vacatur effort. Gen. Land Off. v. Trump, No. 24-40447, 2025 WL 1410414, at *1 (5th Cir. May 15, 2025) Obtained reversal of denial of intervention for multiple government contractors seeking to intervene in an action between state and federal government over Congressional expenditures. Great W. Cas. Co. v. Deepwell Energy Servs., LLC, 2025 WL 542837, 766 F. Supp. 3d 686, 687 (W.D. Tex. 2025) Served as embedded appellate counsel in a jury trial victory for commercial policyholder in high-stakes coverage litigation involving a policy’s “hydrofracking exclusion.” The court entered judgment in the face of post-trial briefing challenging the jury’s verdict. Old Hattiesburg High, L.P. v. Harris Constr. Servs., LLC, 406 So. 3d 12 (Miss. Ct. App. 2024), reh’g denied (Mar. 18, 2025) Secured dismissal of appeal for lack of jurisdiction as an improper appeal from a nonfinal order. Rankin Cnty. v. Mississippi Pub. Serv. Comm’n, 393 So. 3d 1031 (Miss. 2024) Successfully secured affirmance of rate order from Mississippi Public Service Commission on behalf of major utility client. Warren Paving, Inc. v. O'Neal Constructors, LLC, No. 1:24-CV-009-HSO-BWR, 2024 WL 3687088 (S.D. Miss. Aug. 5, 2024) Successfully compelled arbitration against signatory plaintiff and achieved discretionary stay over plaintiff’s related claims against nonsignatory defendant. McInnis Elec. Co. v. Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, 384 So. 3d 485 (Miss. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 2565 (2024) Successfully defended an order granting arbitration in a significant construction dispute between a general contractor and an electrical subcontractor.