HIRED
Founder, 1999 (as The Gonzalez Firm)

EXPERIENCE
*San Jose District Attorney's Office - 1998
*Vinson and Elkins - 1998
*Morrison and Foerster - 1998
*Ecuadorian Rainforest Guide - 1995



Personal Info
Founding partner David González grew up with parents who inspired, nearly required, him to attend college with the plan of going on to obtain a graduate degree. After earning a BA at Dartmouth he fulfilled his parents' wishes and enrolled in law school at Stanford. There he not only got a first-rate legal education, but also met Corinne Sumpter, his wife, business partner and fellow attorney. She says that the encouragement he received as a child grew and grew and grew inside him until it finally burst forth into the world. “I'm being serious,” she insists, “he's the most inspiring person I've ever met.”

David brings high-energy creativity and self-controlled direction to everything he does, from fathering two daughters (Olivia and Ramona) to meeting with clients in our office. Growing up in San Antonio he attended a parochial school that included military training and helped his parents with their fruit distribution company. Both experiences taught him enough of self-discipline to focus on his goals and enough of rebellion to do things differently.

After graduating from Stanford he spent time in Mexico brushing up on his Spanish and then came to Austin to begin his practice. He founded The González Firm in 1999, won several worker's rights cases, became interested in juvenile and criminal cases after visiting Corinne in Washington D.C. and soon started wondering why he hadn't asked her to join him. Toward the end of her two-year residency as a Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University, he proposed marriage. After only two years of practice, his solitary firm morphed into partnership.

Feeling more at home, David set to work making a difference. Unlike many of the ideologues who grow cynical after encountering the seemingly immovable force of our institutionalized justice system, he aimed higher than merely helping a client in court. He did not become disheartened, but instead recognized the importance of constructing a counter-force to the impersonal bureaucracy that handles—and often mishandles—alleged criminals in our society.

He combines his various interests in law, individuals, social activism, graphic design, business, laughter, humanity and transcendent existence into one entity that operates under the label Law Firm. The way David treats it, though, Sumpter & Gonzalez is a hub: A hub for help, for hope, for guidance. In order to give his clients more than any other lawyer ever has, he built a team of talented staff members. He hired a former juvenile probation officer to organize services for our clients and their families. He hired a full-time investigator to keep our attorneys as knowledgeable as possible. He hired a graphic designer to perfect visual aids and technology for trial. He hired the most talented office manager in Texas to ensure that communication between clients and attorneys remains as clear and timely as possible.

David's parents took an extra step in encouraging him to obtain a quality education. Following their example, he continues to take extra steps in everything he does. At a time when the most optimistic criminal defense lawyers intend to change an individual's life, David intends to change not only his clients' lives, but also the entire industry surrounding legal counseling. He often worries that many of his projects go unrealized. But even prior to middle-age, he has co-founded a successful criminal defense firm and everyday takes conscious steps toward becoming more efficient, more directed and more productive.

In addition to his usual case load, David is training for a marathon and is currently engaged in legislative work on behalf of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.