I have never been good at writing my biography.  Handling cases and catching trout and redfish are my true forte. Nevertheless, here goes.

After turning down a scholarship to play football at Northeastern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe), I graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1981 with a double degree in Chemistry and Biology with thoughts of going to medical school. Thankfully, those plans did not work out and I entered the work force after graduation. I had never thought about going to law school while I was in college, but I went to work for a law firm in Lafayette doing abstract work in courthouses around the State and got my first taste of maybe wanting to be a lawyer. When the bottom fell out of the oil market in 1982/83, I knew I would have to find something on which I could base a career and not just have a job. With a wife and a young daughter at home, I left for law school at LSU in 1984 while my wife of 39 years, Mary Ann, supported our family. With her help and a lot of hard work, I was able to graduate from LSU in 1987 with a law degree.

I was fortunate to quickly find employment with Martin, Taulbee, Rowe, Bares and Oliver, where I began to learn the trade of practicing law. After 4 years, I left and joined Allen & Gooch where I spent the next 30 years developing my skills as a lawyer. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to handle a wide variety of cases, so I never got bored doing the same thing over and over. I was able to gain experience in handling trucking litigation, class action suits, insurance coverage disputes, products liability cases, construction cases and defending employers in worker’s compensation claims. I’ve had the opportunity to testify before legislative committees on changes in the law, and I’ve had the opportunity to argue before the Louisiana Supreme Court (and win).  I have also had the pleasure of speaking at numerous seminars on many topics including worker’s compensation. I have also conducted many training sessions for clients and insureds.  However, my greatest pleasure has been having the opportunity to serve as a mentor to many young attorneys that have worked with me. I hope they learned from me the concept of hard work, professionalism, and ethical dealings with the courts and other attorneys. The fact I still get calls for advice from those I have worked with in the past still brings me great joy.

In 2021, Keith Landry and I decided to start our own firm and invited Patrick Johnson, Corey Meaux and Andres Gomez to join us. Luckily, they all said yes, and the firm of Parker & Landry was founded. We have been blessed that our startup has been well received by our clients, the courts, and our brethren in the bar. Our goal is to continue to provide the same level of selectively aggressive service to our clients as they have come to expect from all of us at Parker & Landry. My personal goal is to continue to serve as a role model the attorneys in our office and those yet to come, and to continue my mentorship of young attorneys.  And every now and then, when time permits, still catching a couple of trout and redfish.