BOARD: Bryan R. Parker

Bryan Parker is co-founder and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Legal Innovators, an end-to-end, technology-enabled, talent management solution that has innovated the way in which new attorneys come into the practice of Big Law, and partners with top-tier law firms and corporate legal departments to place lawyers in a two-year apprenticeship style experience. This two-year placement program often results in permanent placement with these prestigious companies and law firms. His company recruits and hires high-quality law school graduates from more than 45 partner law schools using its unique “Money Ball for Lawyers” approach, which helps ensure quality and drives greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the practice of Big Law. Legal Innovators has received a great deal of press around its innovative process and approach, including coverage in The American Lawyer, Bloomberg Law, Law 360 and Above the Law. Its clients include the law firms Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Morrison & Foerster, Orrick, and Shearman & Sterling, as well as corporate clients like Bechtel and Raytheon Technologies. Bryan is a frequent speaker on innovation, data and efficiency, mental health, and diversity, equity and inclusion in the practice of Big Law.

Mr. Parker began his career with Shearman & Sterling as a lawyer on the mergers and acquisitions team, and also spent time as an Investment Banker with Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. Prior to helping co-found Legal Innovators, Bryan served as the CEO for a San Francisco, California, venture-backed, community-based marketing technology company (subsequently acquired by Cvent). Mr. Parker also led the Internal Growth and Real Estate operations at DaVita, a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Parker transformed his division from an underperforming $400 million business to a profitable $1 billion enterprise. In recognition of his corporate leadership, Bryan was selected for membership in the Executive Leadership Council, a national organization of African American CEOs and senior executives at Fortune 500 companies. Prior to that experience, Mr. Parker served as the COO of venture-backed Affinity Media. There he took a money-losing operation and helped transform it into a $200 million thriving enterprise operating in the United States, China, and Korea. He led world-wide operations at Affinity Media, and his accomplishments include leading a $60 million round of financing and completing three M&A transactions.

Outside of the workplace, Mr. Parker is very involved in his community. Recently, he was appointed to the prestigious Board of Counselors at Equal Justice Works. The Board includes a broad cross-section of leaders in Big Law, such as public company General Counsel, law firm Managing Partners, and company CEOs. He is also on the National Board of Friends of the Children, an organization seeking to empower children who face obstacles in life and has as its mission to help eradicate poverty. On this board, Mr. Parker serves as Co-Chair of the Racial Equity Committee. Prior to these involvements, Bryan served as an appointed Commissioner with the Port of Oakland, California, where he led fiscal reform efforts, including reducing the Port's debt, cracking down on financial fraud, revitalizing the Oakland Army base (including the consideration of a stadium for the Oakland Athletics), and job creation through smart land use. Before that appointment, Bryan served as the Chair of Oakland's Workforce Investment Board, as a board member of the University of California (at Berkeley) Alumni Association, as a Member of the Board of Trustees for Holy Names University, and as a board member of the Bay Area Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, Inc. Mr. Parker is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and spent several seasons coaching football at Castlemont High School in Oakland.

Bryan attended the University of California at Berkeley (BA), New York University School of Law (JD), and is now completing (at night) a Master of Divinity degree at Howard University. He is a member of the California and New York Bar Associations.