Robert L. Parks epitomizes a Gables Great in what he has achieved professionally and in what he has accomplished and given back through pro bono work and non-profit community outreach.
The renowned trial attorney is a “Man for all Seasons” who understands and walks the walk of a person who believes in the importance of investing in one’s community and sharing one’s talents, time and treasure.
Parks has committed countless hours of his time in pro bono service to Legal Services of Greater Miami to help those who cannot afford legal services and has co-chaired of the highly successful “Together We Must” campaign raising for this non-profit legal aid group. That, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg for this incredible man.
Born in Nassau, Bahamas, Parks graduated from Miami High in 1956. Parks then graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Political Science, and went on to earn his law degree in 1963 at Georgetown University Law School. Since being admitted to the Florida Bar in 1964, Parks has earned a stellar reputation representing plaintiffs in hundreds of personal injury, wrongful death, aviation, offshore resort litigation, watercraft, large manufacturing and automobile cases in the Americas and around the world handling more than 200 general aviation crashes.
Parks is not only past president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers but also was an original appointee by the Florida Bar to the Florida Supreme Court Commission of Professionalism serving as chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Air and Space Law. He is a Fellow of numerous groups including the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America, the American Board of Trial Advocacy, the International Society of Barristers, and is a member of the American Law Institute and the list goes on and on.
Parks also serves on the 11th Judicial Circuit Court Historical Society Board of Trustees; serves as chair of the Board of Visitor’s for the National Judicial College, and is on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Florida International University’s College of Law. Most recently Parks was selected to receive HistoryMiami’s 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society’s 2015 Legal Legend Award.
A past president of the Dade County Bar, Parks is a former member of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, past president of the Florida Bar Young Lawyers, and has served for six years as a member of the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar. As a member of the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, Parks was the co-author of two chapters in Kreindler’s Aviation Accident Law for Matthew Bender & Company Inc., on “Military Accidents” and “Air Traffic Control Negligence.”
Among the many honors Parks has received was the prestigious War Horse Award, in 2011, the highest honor bestowed by the Southern Trial Lawyers Association in recognition of extraordinary contributions to the cause of justice. In 2012, he received the Perry Nichols Award from the Florida Justice Association, a lifetime achievement award recognizing a Floridian who has fought with distinction for justice throughout his life.
As a lifetime environmental advocate, Parks served as volunteer chairman of the state’s Environmental Regulation Commission from 1978 to 1986, under his former UF college roommate, Governor Bob Graham, donating 100 hours of volunteer service each year, in meetings, discussions of key issues and in holding public hearings around the state. It comes as no surprise that Parks was later named The National Audubon Society’s Environmentalist of the Year.
Leading efforts to restore the Miami River under three governors, Parks became the first chair of the Miami River Commission in 1998, and currently serves as Litigation Chair and is on the Executive Committee for The Everglades Foundation.
Parks has been named one of the “Best Lawyers of America” in countless publications and Robert L. Parks and his firm are listed in the U.S. News Best Lawyers list of “Best Law Firms” rankings.
In his spare time, Robert Parks loves spending time with his wife, Lyn, and three grown children in the Bahamas, where they have a second home.
