About Jeffrey Edward
Jeffrey Edward Fort trained first as an engineer and naval officer before turning to law. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering and Political Science. After commissioning, he served as a surface line officer in the U.S. Navy beginning in 1974. He returned to school and earned his J.D. from Ohio State University in 1979.
Fort’s legal career began in the early 1980s. By 1982 he was working as a lawyer for Marathon Oil Company, where he handled matters that blended technical and regulatory issues inherent to the energy sector. He moved into private practice as a partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP in 1989, a role that expanded his experience in corporate and commercial law. Later he combined operational and legal responsibilities as Operations Engineer & Counsel at KNG Energy, Inc. in 2008.
In 2010 Fort established his own practice, Fort Law Office, LLC. The move followed decades of work on both the corporate and operational sides of energy and industry. He also kept a steady presence in legal education. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Findlay since 1986, and he taught at the University of Toledo College of Law from 1992 to 1996. In 1998 he spent time as an adjunct at Ohio Northern University’s Petit College of Law.
Those teaching roles reflect a career that crosses practice and instruction. Students and colleagues have known him for bringing practical experience into the classroom, drawing on years as an in-house lawyer and as outside counsel. He has been active in the local bar community as well, holding membership in the Findlay Hancock County Bar Association since 2009.
Fort’s path is neither strictly corporate nor strictly academic. It runs through service in the Navy, technical work in the energy industry, law firm partnership and corporate counsel roles, and a long stint in legal education. He has alternated between advising companies and representing clients in private practice, carrying technical familiarity from his engineering background into legal matters.
He currently practices at Fort Law Office, LLC, where his work draws on experience advising energy companies and handling corporate legal issues.
