Our Attorneys
A family practice, in family hands
Tungate Law has carried the same family's name since 1976. Today the practice is led by J. Sumner Majer — nephew of founder Susan Sumner Tungate, now retired — keeping the firm in family hands.
Principal Attorney
J. Sumner Majer
J. Sumner Majer leads Tungate Law today, carrying the family's practice into its second generation. The nephew of Susan Sumner Tungate, he continues the work this office has always been known for: helping Iroquois County individuals and families with probate, estates, and planning for the future.
Clients get the same things this office has offered for fifty years — plain language, personal attention, and a lawyer who knows the community he serves — alongside the perspective of a practice that has guided generations of local families through these same decisions.
Founder · Retired
Susan Sumner Tungate
Susan Sumner Tungate founded this office in 1976 and spent her entire legal life in Iroquois County — more than two decades in practice in Watseka, then twenty years as a judge of the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit, the circuit that includes Iroquois County. She was selected as an associate judge in 1998, elected circuit judge in 2002, and retained by voters in 2014 before leaving the bench in 2018, after which she returned to the firm before retiring.
Now retired, Susan leaves the practice in family hands. The standards she set over five decades — plain answers, careful work, genuine respect for clients — remain the standards of this office.
- Illinois BarAdmitted 1976
- Founded the FirmWatseka, 1976
- Associate Judge21st Judicial Circuit, 1998–2002
- Circuit JudgeElected 2002 · Retained 2014 · Through 2018
- EducationIllinois Wesleyan University · J.D., Loyola University New Orleans
Judicial service provides experience and judgment — never influence or preferential treatment in any court. Every matter stands on its own merits.
Two generations. One standard of care.
The values this office has stood for since 1976 continue with J. Sumner Majer today — the same family, the same community, the same focus.