Stephen M. Forte

Stephen M. Forte is the Managing Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Steve has maintained a full-time practice in addition to his leadership responsibilities as Managing Partner and Chairman. He has been recognized five consecutive years in Chambers USA as one of the outstanding commercial litigators in the country and as a “dynamic trial attorney.” He is also a Georgia Super Lawyer and noted in Best Lawyers in America several years running for Commercial Litigation. Steve’s trial practice and experience is broad based, having been lead counsel in over 200 major adversary proceedings, including jury and bench trials, arbitrations and appeals. Much of Steve’s work in recent years has been focused on class action defense and nationwide complex litigation in the representation of financial institutions and clients in the telecommunications and transportation industries. Steve regularly litigates in state and federal courts throughout the country, and represents major airlines in litigation worldwide.

Steve received his B.A. from the City University of New York (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1977 and his J.D. from the Emory University School of Law in 1980. He is a native of New York City and prior to joining Smith, Gambrell & Russell, was a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of Georgia for civil litigation matters. Steve is a frequent lecturer on complex litigation and trends in the legal industry to the American and International Bar. He has written several articles such as What the Attorney-Client Privilege Really Means, The Uses and Forms of ADR in the U.S., and The Warsaw Convention in the Electronic Age.

Steve is a member of Board of Directors of Metropolitan Atlanta, Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Lawyers Foundation of Georgia, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, National Diocesan Attorneys Association, Advisory Panel of the American Bar Association, and the International Bar Association. He has been recognized in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation, and Super Lawyers.

Steve is member of the Georgia Bar, the Federal District Courts, and the US Supreme Court.