Clients turn to Tory Summey for strategic, practical guidance on the full range of their employment needs, from day-to-day counseling to high-profile disputes. His peers turn to him for leadership as well, as he heads the firm's Employment & Benefits Group. He collaborates with his clients and colleagues to quickly pull together the right team to help solve the problem at hand. He regularly represents employers in various industries, including higher education, manufacturing, local government, and healthcare.
On the counseling front, Tory has experience helping clients navigate high-level executive departures, reductions in force, and other sensitive situations that implicate business, public relations (PR), and legal risks. He advises employers on the complex and ever-changing federal and state laws and regulations that govern the modern employment relationship, as well as evolving best practices and trends, including at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and HR. Business and legal organizations regularly ask him to present to their members on employment topics.
Tory also assists clients with day-to-day issues such as recruiting and hiring, accommodation requests, discipline and corrective action, and terminations. He helps clients to implement practical policies that comply with applicable law and to find creative solutions to challenging situations in the workplace, including those involving AI.
On the litigation front, Tory helps clients understand the risks and benefits of litigation while aggressively pursuing each client's best interests. He has served as defense counsel in hundreds of claims, with experience at the trial and appellate levels of state and federal courts, including the NC Business Court, the NC Court of Appeals, the NC Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Tory has defended numerous clients from lawsuits relating to alleged discrimination and retaliation and also pursued relief for his clients on various complex issues such as misappropriation of trade secrets or unfair and deceptive trade practices. Tory also represents clients in proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the NC Department of Labor.
Prior to joining Parker Poe, Tory practiced commercial litigation for four years with a boutique litigation and bankruptcy firm and practiced employment litigation for two years with a large national firm.
Tory received his law degree from Wake Forest University, where he was a senior editor for the Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law and a teaching assistant. He was an economics and history double major at Davidson College, as well as a pitcher on Davidson's baseball team.