Husch Blackwell welcomes Lisa Parker Freeman to the firm’s Chicago office as Senior Counsel. She will focus her practice in the areas of Educational Institutions and Education Litigation, bringing extensive on-the-ground industry experience.
Parker Freeman joins Husch Blackwell from Kaplan Higher Education Campuses, where she was Vice President of Accreditation (2010-2012). Kaplan Higher Education is one of the largest for-profit providers of postsecondary education in the United States and is the leading revenue producer for Kaplan Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Co. At Kaplan, Parker Freeman was responsible for national institutional and programmatic accreditation compliance for 58 campuses and provided regular accreditation and risk management analysis.
Prior to working at Kaplan, Parker Freeman was an Associate, and then Partner at the AmLaw 100 firm Winston & Strawn LLP (1998-2002; 2006-2010), where she handled all facets of litigation for various large corporate clients. She spent three years in between her stints there to serve as In-House Counsel for the global pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories (2002-2005). Parker Freeman began her legal career as a law clerk for the Hon. Charles A. Shaw of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (1995-1997).
Parker Freeman received her J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law (1995), where she was Articles Editor of Saint Louis University Public Law Review. She received her B.A. from Lake Forest College (1992) in Lake Forest, Ill.
With more than 85 years of experience in education law, Husch Blackwell’s Educational Institutions group is a recognized leader in representing public and private educational institutions. Attorneys in the education practice devote substantially all of their time to serving the needs of public and private elementary schools, secondary schools, institutions of higher education and other education-related businesses and organizations. In addition, Husch Blackwell has represented public school districts and private schools in more than 200 lawsuits, knowing how to effectively defend and win such cases, both in court and arbitration proceedings.