Andre ForteAndre Forte

Partner

Phone: 301-791-6924
Fax: 301-791-6947
Email: aforte@wfortelaw.com

Practice Areas:

  • Civil Litigation
  • Insurance Defense
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Workers Compensation
  • Large Loss Subrogation
  • Family Law
  • Traffic/Criminal Law

Biography:

Andre grew up in Queens, New York, where he attended Archbishop Molloy High School. Before he graduated from Molloy in 1987, Andre played on two city championship baseball teams, held records in the 60 yard dash and 4 x 100 relay as a member of the track team and wrote for the school newspaper. Andre earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from LeMoyne College where he graduated magna cum laude in 1991. Andre played fall baseball his first two years at LeMoyne before interning at a law firm in Washington, D.C. While at LeMoyne Andre was inducted into the National Jesuit Honor Society, Alpha Sigma Nu.

After college Andre attended the National Law Center at George Washington University. During college and his first year of law school, Andre worked for a small real estate firm. During his second and third years of law school, Andre was a law clerk for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, for which he was granted a 1993 Murray-Snyder Fellowship. Andre helped choreograph and direct the law school's annual musical and variety show. He was inducted into and became President of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and was awarded the 1993 Samuel Green Scholarship. Andre was also honored as Phi Delta Phi's 1994 Graduate of the Year from those law students who graduated from law schools in the Washington, D.C. region.

Upon graduating from law school, Andre clerked for the Honorable Frederick D. Dorsey of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. During Judge Dorsey's medical leave of absence, Andre clerked with the Honorable Nan R. Shuker and the Honorable Rufus King, III. Following the completion of his clerkship, Andre worked as an associate at another District of Columbia firm and was a partner at a mid-sized Montgomery County based law firm for over a decade before leaving and forming Wilson Forte LLP. During the last three years at his previous firm, Andre was the partner responsible for managing the firm's Baltimore office. Since 2010, Andre has been a principal in the law firm of Wilson Forte, LLP.

Andre is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars and their respective bar associations. Andre is also a member of the United States District Courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is also licensed to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Andre was elected to the Steering Committee for the Injury to Persons and Property Section of the District of Columbia Bar in 2012 and served as the Co-Chair of that section in 2013 and 2014. Andre also had the honor of being selected as a member of the George Washington American Inn of Court where he served in several officer positions including President during the 2003-2004 term. Andre has also appeared as a guest lecturer on Montgomery County's television program "Law School for the Public."

Andre served as an officer for the District of Columbia Defense Lawyers' Association and had the honor as serving as its President for the 2008-2009 term. Andre has been a lector for several continuing legal education seminars for the Worker's Compensation and Personal Injury Sections of the Montgomery County Bar Association as well as at the DCDLA Annual Convention and D.C. Bar Association. Andre was a member of the Board of Directors for Maryland Defense Counsel from 2009 to 2013. In 2009, Andre was awarded the Exceptional Performance Citation by DRI (National Defense Regional Institute). Andre has been a member of the Advisory Committee for the Small Claims Rules Committee for the Superior Court for the District of Columbia since 2005. He currently served as the Co-Chair for the Personal Injury Section of the Montgomery County Bar Association from 2008 to 2016, and in 2016 was honored as the Section Co-Chair of the Year.

Since the summer of 2019, Andre has served on the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Montgomery County Bar Association. Andre was asked by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to become a member of the COVID-19 Task Force to address the delays in civil litigation caused by the pandemic.

Andre's trial accomplishments and efforts to represent defendants in civil cases were recognized when the DC Defense Lawyers' Association honored him with the Lawyer of the Year Award which was presented by the Honorable Nan R. Shuker in June, 2014.

Andre was a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 and has been recognized as One of America's Top 100 Civil Litigators in the United States since 2018.

Andre and his wife, reside in Wheaton, Maryland with their two daughters and their golden doodle. Andre is a Eucharistic Minister at St. John the Evangelist in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he and his wife have led and participated in the Children's Liturgy, Baptism Preparation and High School CCD programs. Andre enjoys participating in most sports, and has captained the Montgomery County All Star Softball Team on several occasions - leading the team to the Maryland State Bar Association championship in 2019. Andre has been the Tennis Chair for the Montgomery County Bar Foundation Fall Outing for over a decade. He is currently the commissioner of the Montgomery County Bar Association Softball League.

Bar and Court Admissions:

  • Maryland, 1994
  • District of Columbia, 1995
  • United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1998
  • United States District Court, Maryland, 1998
  • United States District Court, District of Columbia, 1998

Education:

  • LeMoyne College, 1991, magna cum laude
  • George Washington University National Law Center, 1994, Pro Bono Honors Recipient

Memberships and Awards:

  • District of Columbia Defense Lawyer's Association Lawyer of the Year 2013-2014
  • District of Columbia Defense Lawyer's Association, President 2008-2009
  • Maryland Defense Counsel, Board of Directors, 2009-2013
  • George Washington American Inn of Court, President, 2002-2004
  • Montgomery County Bar Association
  • Montgomery County Bar Association Personal Injury Section, Co-Chair, 2008-2017
  • Montgomery County Bar Association Judicial Nominating Committee 2019-present
  • Montgomery County Bar Association Worker's Compensation Section
  • Maryland Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association Tort Law Steering Committee, 2012-2014
  • District of Columbia Bar Association Tort Law Steering Committee Co-Chair 2013-2014
  • District of Columbia Small Claims Rules Advisory Committee, 2005-present
  • Phi Delta Phi Samuel Green Scholarship Recipient, 1993
  • Phi Delta Phi Graduate of the Year, Washington D.C. Region, 1994
  • Murray Snyder Fellowship, 1994
  • DRI Leader of the Bar Award, 2008-2009
  • Maryland Super Lawyers 2014-present

Reported Cases:

  • Amantangelo v. Schultz, 870 A.2d 548 (D.C. 2005)
  • Wright v. Allstate Ins. Co., 128 Md. App. 694, 740 A.2d 50 (1999)