Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, P.A.


Find an Attorney Browse by State How It Works About Us Info for Attorneys

Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, P.A.


741 Kenilworth Avenue, Suite 300 Charlotte, North Carolina 28204-2828View Map

Practice Areas:

Civil Rights, Employment and Labor Discrimination, General Civil, Criminal, DWI/DUI, Personal Injury, Automobile Accidents, Wrongful Death, Plaintiff's Medical Malpractice, Trial and Appellate Practice, Wills and Probate, Trusts and Estates, Estate Planning, Administration, Workers Compensation.

Year Established: 1964

Firm Profile:

Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, P.A. is a multi-specialty law firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has been in business since 1964. The firm was founded by Julius L. Chambers, who left the firm in 1984 to become Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. in New York and returned to the firm in 2001. Currently there are a total of 13 attorneys from diverse backgrounds working in the Charlotte and Chapel Hill offices. The firm has a national and international reputation in school desegregation, employment discrimination, voting rights, general civil rights litigation, and criminal defense. It is also nationally and regionally known for its representation of plaintiffs in personal injury and medical negligence cases, and its work in teacher rights and education law, administrative law, workers compensation, and estates, business, corporate and commercial real estate matters. Listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, the firm encourages professional development and activities: many of its members hold leadership positions in a wide variety of professional organizations and regularly teach academic courses in addition to trial advocacy and continuing legal education programs.

Firm Size: 13

Office Hours:
Monday: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Tuesday: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Wednesday: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Thursday: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Friday: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Saturday: By Appointment Only
Sunday: By Appointment Only

James E. Ferguson, II (Member) born Asheville, North Carolina, October 10, 1942; admitted to bar, 1967, North Carolina. Education: North Carolina Central University (A.B., summa cum laude, 1964) Columbia University (LL.B., 1967). Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. Member, Board of Directors, Legal Services of North Carolina, 1983-1989. Member, Inner Circle of Advocates. President, Board of Directors, National Employment Law Project, 1984-1988. Lecturer in Law, Harvard University Law School, 1986-1992. Adjunct Faculty Member, North Carolina Central University School of Law 1981, 1988. Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers. Member: The North Carolina State Bar (Member, Disciplinary Hearing Commission, 1981-1990); American Bar Association (Co-Chairman, Personal Rights Committee, Litigation Section, 1982); National Bar Association; North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers (President, 1974-1976); North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (Member, Board of Directors, 1984-1992; President, 2001); The Association of Trial Lawyers of America; National Institute of Trial Advocacy (Board Chair, Executive Committee, 1998-2000). Reported Cases: Harris v. Miller, 335 N.C. 379, 438 SE2d. 731 (1994); State v. Hunt, 324 N.C. 343, 378 S.E. 2d (1989); McDowell v. Dixon, 858 F.2d 945 (4th in 1988). Practice Areas: Plaintiff's Medical Malpractice; Plaintiff's Catastrophic Injury; General Civil Rights Law; Constitutional Law.

John W. Gresham (Member) born Mullins, South Carolina, January 14, 1945; admitted to bar, 1975, North Carolina. Education: Davidson College (A.B., 1967); Boston University (J.D., 1974). Omicron Delta Kappa. Member, 1972-1974 and Note and Case Editor, 1973-1974, Boston University Law Review. Author: Comment, "Reemployment Rights: The Veteran and the Vacation Benefit," 53 Boston University Law Review 480, March, 1973. Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge James B. McMillan, 1974-1976. Faculty, Vermont Law School, Fall 1992. National Institute of Trial Advocacy (Faculty, 1990—). Member: Mecklenburg County (Member, Grievance Committee, 1990-1993, 1998-2000; Bar Foundation, 1995-2000; President, 2000-2001; Executive Committee, 2006—), North Carolina (Council Member, Education Law Section, 1987-1991, 2005-2007; Appellate Rules Study Committee, 1989-1992) and American Bar Associations; The North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. Reported Cases: Reed v. United Transportation Union, 488 U.S. 319, 109 S.Ct. 621, 102 L.Ed.2d 665 (1989); Corum v. University of North Carolina, 330 N.C. 761, 413 S.E.2d 276 (1992); Brewer v. Cabarras Plastics, Inc., N.C. App 681, 130 W.C. App 681, 504 S.E.2d 580 (1998). Practice Areas: Public Employment Law; Employment Civil Rights Litigation; Education Law; General Civil Litigation; Appellate Practice.

Geraldine Sumter (Member) born Columbia, South Carolina, March 4, 1956; admitted to bar, 1981, South Carolina; 1983, North Carolina. Education: Howard University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1978); Duke University (J.D., 1981). Law Clerk to Judge Charles L. Becton, North Carolina Court of Appeals, 1981-1982. Member, Vice Chair, 1993-1996, Chairperson, 1996-1997, IOLTA Board of Trustees. Member: Mecklenburg County (Executive Committee, 1989-1992) and North Carolina (Chair, Section Council, Employment Law Section, 1992-1993; Member, Intellectual Property Committee, 1988-1989) Bar Associations; North Carolina State Bar; South Carolina Bar; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers; North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys; North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers (President, 1991-1995; President, Charlotte Chapter, 1988-1990); National Employment Lawyers Association. Practice Areas: Civil Rights Litigation; Employment Law; Business Law.

Henderson Hill (Member) born Brooklyn, N.Y., May 17, 1956; admitted to bar, 1981, District of Columbia; 1991, North Carolina. Education: Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York (B.A., 1977); Harvard University (J.D., 1981). Adjunct Associate Professor of Law, University of North Carolina Law School, 1991-1997. Senior Lecturer, Duke University Law School, 1998. Member, Board of Directors, Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers. Member: District of Columbia Bar; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (Member: Board of Governors, 1997-1999, 2001—; Executive Committee, 1998-1999). Practice Areas: Medical Malpractice; Criminal Trials; Civil Litigation; Civil Rights.

C. Margaret Errington (Member) born Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, September 14, 1954; admitted to bar, 1985, Massachusetts; 1987, North Carolina. Education: Wesleyan University (B.A., 1982); Northeastern University (J.D., 1985). Law Clerk to Honorable Herbert P. Wilkins, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1985-1986. Member: Mecklenburg County (Member, Executive Committee, 1992-1995), North Carolina (Member: Labor and Employment Council, 1992-1994, 1998-2001) and Massachusetts Bar Associations; North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. Practice Areas: Civil Rights Litigation; General Civil Litigation; Employment Law; Estates.

Stephen Luke Largess (Member) born Newport, Rhode Island, April 20, 1956; admitted to bar, 1990, North Carolina. Education: Duke University (B.A., 1979); University of North Carolina (J.D., 1990). Member: Mecklenburg County and North Carolina Bar Associations; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (President, Board of Directors of North Carolina Legal Education Assistance Foundation, 1989-2008). Reported Cases: Boring v. Buncombe County Bd of Ed., 136 F3d 364, (4th Cir. 1998); State v. Lineberger 115 N.C. App. 687, 446 SE2d 375 (1994); Belk v. Charlotte Mecklenburg Bd. of Education, 233 F2d. 32 (4th Cir. 2000) (vacated for rehearing en Banc); Craig v. Asheville City Bd. of Ed., 543 SE 2d. 186 (NC App. 2001); Bailey v. Kennedy, 349 F3d. 731 (4th Cir. 2003); Reed v. Buckeye Fire Equipment, 241 Fed. Appx. 917 (2007). Languages: Spanish. Practice Areas: General Civil Litigation; Education Law; Employment Law; Civil Rights.

Jacob H. Sussman (Member) born New York, N.Y., June 23, 1974; admitted to bar, 2003, New York and North Carolina. Education: Wesleyan University (B.A., 1997); New York University School of Law (J.D., 2002). Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar. Author, Unlimited Innocence: Recognizing an "Actual Innocence" Exception to AEDPA's Statute of Limitations, 27 NYU Rev. L. & Soc. Change 343 (2001-2002); Suspect Choices: Lineup Procedures and the Abdication of Judicial and Prosecutorial Responsibility for Improving the Criminal Justice System, 27 NYU Rev. L. & Soc. Change 507 (2001-2002). Member: Mecklenburg County and North Carolina Bar Associations; Mecklenburg County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (Treasurer, 2003—); National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (Member, Young Lawyers Division, 2004—; Member, Criminal Defense and Civil Rights Sections, 2003—). Practice Areas: Criminal Defense; Civil Rights; Education Law.

William G. Simpson, Jr. (Member) (Resident, Chapel Hill Office).

OF COUNSEL

Julius LeVonne Chambers (Of Counsel) born Mt. Gilead, North Carolina, October 6, 1936; admitted to bar, 1962, North Carolina; 1987, New York. Education: North Carolina Central University (A.B., 1958); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (M.A., History, 1959); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (J.D., 1962); Columbia University School of Law (LL.M., 1963). Order of the Coif; Order of the Golden Fleece. Woodrow Wilson Fellow, University of Michigan. John Hay Whitney Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chappel Hill School of Law. Recipient: Courageous Advocacy Award form the American College of Trial Lawyers; Aetna Voice of Conscience Award; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Adam Clayton Powell Award for Legislative and Legal Perfection. Author: "Beyond Affirmative Action," Capital University Law 37.1 (1998): 1-2; Race and Equality: The Still Unfinished Business of the Warren Court," The Warren Court: A Retrospective, Ed. Bernard Schwartz, New York, Oxford University Press, 1996: 26-67; "Afterward: Racial Equity and Full Citizenship, The Unfinished Agenda," African Americans and the Living Constitution, Eds. John Hope Franklin and Genna Rae McNeil, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995: 319-325; "Black Americans and the Courts: Has the Clock Been Turned Back Permanently?"The State of Black America, 1990, New York: Natural Urban League, Inc. 1990: 9-24; "Adequate Education for All: A Right, An Achievable Goal," Harv. Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 22.1 (1987):55-74. Adjunct Professor: University of Virginia Law School, 1975-1978; University of Pennsylvania, 1978-1986; Columbia University Law School, 1984-1992; University of Michigan Law School, 1985-1992. Chancellor, North Carolina Central University, 1993-2001. Formerly with, NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, New York, NY. Member: North Carolina and American (Member, IRR Section) Bar Associations; North Carolina State Bar; American College of Trial Lawyers. Reported Cases: Swann, et al. v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971); Moody v. Albemarle Paper Corp., 422 U.S. 405 (1975); Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986). Practice Areas: Civil Rights; Education Law; Employment; Housing; Public Accommodation.

Jonathan P. Wallas (Of Counsel) born Charlotte, North Carolina, July 8, 1945; admitted to bar, 1970, North Carolina. Education: Duke University (B.A., 1967); Columbia University (J.D., 1970). Member, 1968-1970 and Writing and Research Editor, 1969-1970, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge James B. McMillan, 1970-1971. Certified Mediator, North Carolina Supreme Court. Arbitrator, Financial and Industry Regulatory Authority. Member: Mecklenburg County and North Carolina Bar Associations; The North Carolina State Bar. Reported Cases: Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564; Chisholm v. United States Postal Service, 516 F. Supp. 810, aff'd 665 F.2d 482. Practice Areas: Employment Law; Litigation; Torts.

Adam Stein (Of Counsel) (Resident, Of Counsel, Chapel Hill Office).

ASSOCIATES

Jones Phillips Lareena (Associate) born Newark, New Jersey, January 29, 1982; admitted to bar, 2007, North Carolina. Education: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (B.A., 2004; J.D., 2007). Editor, North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology. Member, University of North Carolina National Trial Team, 2005-2007. Vice President, Black Law Students Association, 2005-2006. Member: John S. Leary Bar Association. Practice Areas: Medical Malpractice; Personal Injury; Workers Compensation; Employment Law.

Tanisha P. Johnson (Associate) born Iowa City, Iowa, August 18, 1982; admitted to bar, 2007, North Carolina. Education: Pepperdine University (B.A., 2004); North Carolina Central University School of Law (J.D., 2007). Member, North Carolina Central University Law Journal. Elementary Education Teaching Credential, 2004. Member: North Carolina State Bar; North Carolina Bar Association; John S. Leary Bar Association; North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. Practice Areas: Business Law; Employment Law.

Send this listing to a friend

Print this listing

Top of Page

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell attorneys.com is the most complete, trusted source for identifying qualified legal counsel.

Disclaimer: The information provided on attorneys.com is not legal advice, attorneys.com is not a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or should be formed by use of the site. The attorney listings on attorneys.com are paid attorney advertisements and do not in any way constitute a referral or endorsement by attorneys.com or any approved or authorized lawyer referral service. Your access to and use of this site is subject to additional Terms and Conditions.