Diversity Speaker Series Draws Freddie Mac

Diversity Speaker Series

January 30, 2014

On January 30, 2014, Kelley Drye’s Diversity Speaker Series hosted Barry M. Parsons, Associate General Counsel in the General Litigation & Investigations Department of Freddie Mac. In his role at Freddie Mac, Mr. Parsons advises clients and manages outside counsel on a wide variety of legal matters, including employment, contract, intellectual property, insurance, fraud, counterparty receiverships and antitrust law. An advocate for advancing diversity in the legal profession, Mr. Parsons is also co-chair of Freddie Mac’s company-wide LAMBDA Employee Network and serves on the Board of Directors for the National LGBT Bar Association, where he chairs its Corporate Counsel Group. In a riveting presentation, Mr. Parsons talked candidly about his career path, his legal work, and his work in diversity, punctuating his presentation with poignant stories of being a gay man in the profession. Mr. Parsons also shared his expectation of outside counsel and offered thoughts on the use of diversity in law firm client development efforts. Following the presentation, Mr. Parsons was treated to lunch by New York Managing Partner, Robert I. Steiner, Litigation Associate, Damon Suden; and Diversity Director, Venetta Amory.