Kenneth “Kenny” Sumner Jr.

When you hire a lawyer, you are trusting a near-stranger with something that matters a great deal to you. The real question is whether I am someone worthy of that trust, and that is something only you can decide for yourself.

A little background is probably in order. I was born in Littleton, Colorado, but I did not stay there long. My father was an engineer for a large oil company, and when I was six we moved overseas to England, where we spent most of our time in London. I attended the American School in London, and even though it was an American school, it was deeply international. From a young age I was surrounded by people from a variety of cultures and viewpoints, and that shaped the way I see the world. A few English habits stuck, too. We wrote with fountain pens and were not allowed to use a ballpoint, even for math, and to this day I spell “grey” the British way without thinking and every now and then say something that earns me a funny look. More than anything, growing up like that means that whatever your background, there is a good chance I will understand where you are coming from.

My family eventually moved back to the United States, to Sugar Land, where I went to Clements High School and played football. What really stuck with me was learning how to lead and how much I valued being part of a team. I still keep up with some of my old teammates today, and a few of them have even become clients. From there I stayed close to home for college at the University of Houston, where I completed the Entrepreneurship Program, then earned my law degree at the University of Houston Law Center. In law school I served on the Houston Journal of Health Law and Policy, clerked at several Houston firms, and interned for the Texas Supreme Court.

I started out at a large Houston firm, but I wanted to build something of my own, and just as importantly, I did not want to do it alone. I knew I would do better with a partner I trusted beside me than I ever would on my own, so in 2013 I partnered with Paul Romano to open Romano & Sumner here in Sugar Land. Studying entrepreneurship and then building a firm from the ground up taught me how a business actually works, and that matters when a case turns on a family company, business assets, or someone’s livelihood.

I have practiced law in Texas since 2006, and these days my work is built around litigation: will contests, contested guardianships, trust disputes, and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Most clients find me on one of the worst days of their lives, when a family is at war or someone they love is being taken advantage of. That is when I am at my best. Judges across the area trust me enough to appoint me to protect people who cannot speak for themselves, and my clients trust me with problems they have not told anyone else. I am not afraid of a fight, and when someone goes after my client, I get out in front of it and I do not let up.

Away from the office, my wife Cynthia and I have two children, and for years our family revolved around competitive club swimming. On most weekends you could find me under a lean-to tent in a folding lawn chair, tailgating my way through a five-hour meet for the ten minutes my kid was actually racing. I eventually became an official, which led to one of the harder moments of my parenting career, because there is no graceful way to tell your own child that you just disqualified them, and it makes for a very quiet drive home. But that is kind of the point. If I will disqualify my own kid, you can trust me to be straight with you about your case, even when the truth is not what you were hoping to hear.

My hope is that this gives you a real sense of the person you would be working with. If you are facing a situation you do not understand, feel you have been wronged, or are worried about someone you love, do not hesitate to reach out. I would be glad to talk it through and help you figure out the best path forward.