Stephen Anthony Sommers

Stephen Sommers is passionate about representing employees unfairly treated by their employers. He represents employees with the understanding that an individual's dignity can be largely derived from the work they perform. When an employer unfairly treats employees, then the employees their financial condition and their dignity can take also be compromised. Mr. Sommers fights for justice for employees as a way to build stronger individuals and stronger communities.

Northeastern Univ School of Law

Law Degree

East Carolina Univ

B.A. (1990) | Political Science/Philosophy (double major)

1986 - 1990

Mr. Sommers was a very active undergraduate student. While he was the University's main concert promoter, his real passion was student politics. Dismayed at what he perceived as institutionalized racism at the University, Mr. Sommers organized the Reform Party in an attempt to gain power for minority students. While the movement was defeated when the University refused to student cast ballots, the lasting impact of the emotional issues raised by Mr. Sommers and his co-students had a lasting impact on the University, which today enjoys more freedom, acceptance, and diversity as a result.

Honors: Student Newsmaker, 1989 National Political Science Honor Society, National Philosophy Honor Society.

Activities: Chair, Major Concerts Committee; Chair, Special Concerts Committee; President, Students for Economic Democracy; Legislature, Student Government; Board of Directors, Student Union; Board of Directors, Allied Blacks for Leadership and Equality; Chair, Student Government Reform Party.

Attorney

Sommers Employment Law

Current

Partner

Kumin Sommers LLP

2008 - Current

Stephen Sommers merged Sommers Law Group with the Law Offices of Matthew Kumin in September 2008, to ensure resources and support to fight for justice for employees wronged by their employers. Kumin Sommers LLP also represents individuals who have been injured by the police in federal civil rights actions. Mr. Sommers' partner, Matthew Kumin, has practiced civil rights law for over 13 years. Mr. Kumin's mentor, and the firm's Of Counsel, is the famous civil rights litigator, John Burris.

Owner

Sommers Law Group

2004 - 2008

Stephen Sommers started Sommers Law Group on the principle that an individual's dignity is largely grounded in the work they perform, and when an employer unfairly treats its employee, it damages the dignity of the employee. For four years, Sommers Law Group represented hundreds of employees, from laborers to medical physicians.

Associate Attorney

Beeson, Tayer & Bodine

2002 - 2004

Stephen Sommers first job out of law school was with labor and employment firm Beeson, Tayer & Bodine. Duane Beeson started the firm over 50 years ago and was one of Mr. Sommers's mentors. Mr. Beeson liked to instruct that good attorneys "measure twice, cut once." At Beeson, Tayer & Bodine, Mr. Sommers represented local labor unions, including the Teamsters, Media Guild, and the California Teachers Association among others. Mr. Sommers also represented individuals in disputes against their employers.

Regional Director - Western Pennsylvania

Citizen Action

2001 - 2003

Mr. Sommers was one of the youngest regional directors for the national consumer and environmental organization, Citizen Action. Mr. Sommers operated the door-to-door political canvass, coordinating lobbying efforts, and developing issue campaigns. As the Western Pennsylvania Director, among other issues, Mr. Sommers and his team of 60 canvassers, changed Pennsylvania law releasing federal funds for much needed lead abatement work throughout the Commonwealth.

Law Clerk

Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C.

2002 - 2002

Stephen Sommers was a law clerk at the labor law firm of Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC. Mr. Sommers was the first law student selected from Northeastern University School of Law to clerk for the prestigious firm. At Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC, Mr. Sommers worked on a number of appellate level cases.

Law Clerk to Chairman John C. Truesdale

National Labor Relations Board

2002 - 2002

While a law student, Mr. Sommers was law clerk to John C. Truesdale, the Chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Mr. Truesdale was appointed by President Clinton in 1998 where he served the top post until he retired in 2001. The Chairperson and the other four presidentially appointed NLRB Board Members issue rulings of appeals from regional NRLB hearings on such issues as wrongful termination in retaliation for union activity. Under the guidance of Mr. Truesdale and his staff attorneys, Mr. Sommers researched cases and submitted draft NLRB decisions, advocated the Board for the acceptance of his determination, and made final edits for publication of Board Decisions.

Law Clerk

United Mine Workers of America

2000 - 2000

Mr. Sommers' first legal job was as law clerk in the legal department for the United Mine Workers of America. The United Mine Workers of America holds a special place in American union history as a union that truly believes in membership democracy. The summer that Mr. Sommers worked for the the UMWA, every person working the national headquarters were former miners, with the exception of the administrative and legal staff. One of the many legal projects Mr. Sommers worked on while with the UMWA was to create new labor law on Native American Reservations so that miners working in mines on those reservations could organize into a union.

Union Organizer and Business Agent

UNITE

1993 - 1999

Mr. Sommers was a union organizer for UNITE (now UNITE HERE) in the southeast region of the United States. He worked in rural, mostly African American, communities where he encouraged workers to rise up against intolerable working conditions and the daily indignities of the job.

International Representative

United Electrial, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)

1993 - 1993

Mr. Sommers was a union organizer for the UE, working in remote communities throughout the United States, encouraging workers to join together and fight for fairness on the job.

Volunteer

United States Peace Corps - Chad, Africa

1990 - 1991

Mr. Sommers was a Peace Corps volunteer in the remote country of Chad, which lies in the heart of Central Africa, between the Dafur region of the Sudan, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Central African Republic. Mr. Sommers was posted in Mao, a village in the Saharan Desert, where he helped locals develop cheap and efficient fresh water pump technology for fresh drinking water. The Peace Corps was a defining time in Mr. Sommers' life, where he was forced to make it on his own, in a dangerous and difficult area of the world. When Mr. Sommers returned to the United States, the Chadian government had just withstood a serious military coup attempt, the second in just under a year. Disease and poverty was steep in Chad. At the time, Chad was selected by National Geographic as the World's Number One Hardship Post. The average life expectancy was 37 years.

Attorney of the Year

AIDS Legal Referral Panel

2008

San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association

Member

2007 - Current

California State Bar  # 225742

Member

2003 - Current

California Employment Lawyers Association

Member

2002 - Current

California

Since 2003

• Free Consultation
• Contingent Fees