Corinne Sumpter, Lawyer

Corinne Sumpter

Lawyer

Areas of Focus:

Social media and Cyberbullying • Juvenile defense • School law • Mental Health • Victim-offender Mediation • Teenage Sexual Misconduct allegations • Sexual Assault • Crime Victim Representation

Phone: (512) 381-9955

Fax: (512) 381-9955

Email: corinne@sg-llp.com

Corinne Sumpter’s passion for law lies in a fundamental belief in helping people. As a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, she represented indigent clients in trial and taught third-year students herself. She was drawn to the issues of equality and justice, which called her to build a career working as one of the finest defense attorneys in Central Texas serving women and children. Corinne understands that not all cases are black and white — to find the best solution for her clients, she finds the good in the gray areas. It is with this focus that she is able to create a better life for her clients, and in turn, the people around them.

As a founding partner at Sumpter and Gonzalez, Corinne brings her expertise as an advocate and teacher to all cases that come through the door with a unique, term-based approach. She maintains part-time office hours while raising four children.

If you help one person, you help everybody else in their life. That’s true for all of us.

With four young children, Corinne is no stranger to Dell Children’s ER. After a recent event where one son whacked another in the face with a sharp steel putter – opening a torrent of blood centimeters from his eye – Corinne calmly asked her older daughter to grab her purse which contained butterfly bandages and steri strips for just this sort of occasion.

“Corinne, we have an emergency” is often heard at the beginning of many cases. She exudes the same confidence and calm when listening as a panicking CEO asks what to do when federal agents are serving a search warrant (and disconnecting the company’s servers) as when she’s holding a wad of napkins to slow the bleeding on her son’s forehead.

While often called in to handle emergencies, Corinne’s preferred patient relationship is representing parents and their teenagers. In the fast-paced world of school discipline and juvenile court proceedings, Corinne is a calming caretaker during situations of intense emotional stress.

  • Stanford Law School (J.D., 1999)
  • Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. in Criminal Trial Advocacy, 2005)
  • Prettyman/Stiller Fellowship, Georgetown University Law Center, 1999-2001
  • University of California at Los Angeles (B.A. in Women’s Studies, 1995)
  • Stanford Law School Public Interest Fellow – 1998-1999
  • Lisa M. Schnitzer Scholarship, Stanford Law School 1997
  • Texas Monthly Rising Star, Criminal Law, 2010
  • Austin Independent School District Safety Task Force, 2003-2004
  • Good Kids, Good Parents, Bad Legal Situation, Statewide in-house training, Winstead, P.C., March 22, 2010.
  • Good Kids, Good Parents, Bad Legal Situation, Statewide in-house training, Winstead, P.C., November 6, 2009.
  • Special Education Issues and the Juvenile Justice System in Texas, Privacy Issues and the Protection of Mentally Ill Clients, State Bar of Texas, June 2008.
  • If I Get Pulled Over, Should I Take A Breath Test?, Fish & Richardson P.C., March 2008.
  • What to Do When, Private Reception, Austin, TX., Feb. 2008.
  • How to Protect Yourself: Alcohol and Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, University of Texas, Feb. 2008.
  • If I Get Pulled Over, Should I Take A Breath Test?, Austin Young Lawyers Association, Jan. 2008.
  • How to Protect Yourself: Alcohol and Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority, University of Texas, Nov. 2007.
  • How to Protect Yourself: Alcohol and Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Pi Beta Phi Sorority, University of Texas, Oct. 2007.
  • How to Protect Yourself: Alcohol and Legal Rights and Responsibilities, Chi Omega Sorority, University of Texas, Oct. 2007.
  • Author, L.L.M. Thesis Paper, Georgetown University Law Center, Reversing the Tide of Zero Tolerance: Empowering Schools and the Juvenile Justice System to Shift School Discipline Back to Campus, Perspectives from Austin Texas, 2005.
  • Texas Criminal Trial College, 2001
  • Prettyman/Stiller Fellowship Trial Training, Georgetown University Law Center, 1999-2001

Corinne spends a great deal of time teaching parents and teenagers about the intersection of criminal law and technology. From invitations to speak at St. Stephens and St. Andrews to addressing mother-daughter groups throughout Austin, Corinne’s commitment to juvenile defense starts with frank and direct conversations with teenagers. Using case studies, Corinne’s focus is explaining how good kids with straight A’s can  nevertheless become entangled in the juvenile justice system.  She is frequently asked to address audiences of young women about the patterns involving sexual harassment and sexual assault.