Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Parmer.
Hi Molly, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was raised in poverty by two counterculture activists. My dad was an artist known for seditious, psychedelic cartoons that captured the chaos of the late 1960s. He illustrated Abbie Hoffman’s “Steal This Book” and drew comics depicting anarchy, drugs, sex and violence. He attended every day of the trial of the Chicago 7 and drew his own version of courtroom sketches. At the time of his death, he was essentially living as a fugitive in Vermont, on the run from a number of bench warrants in Georgia.
My parents were smart, cultured and educated but didn’t believe in capitalism or traditional jobs, so our poverty was seemingly by choice. As a child, growing up decades after the sixties had ended, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get a pair of new shoes or why we didn’t have working appliances. Though my childhood was rich in other ways – with art and music and literature – there wasn’t much stability and we had no financial safety net.
School became my safe haven and I devoted myself to academics. I graduated with high honors from Georgia Tech – an attempt to formally leave behind my bohemian roots – earning a Bachelor of Science. I then joined an alternative teacher preparation program created by the Atlanta Public Schools to teach special education. I started off teaching at Young Middle School in Cascade Heights and spent a total of five years teaching students with emotional behavior disorders in Title One schools. It honed my interest in fighting for the underdog.
Being a teacher and coming from a family with no money meant law school was a pipedream. I couldn’t take three years off of work, I couldn’t go six figures in debt, I couldn’t stop providing my family with what little stability I had. But even pipedreams are worth pursuing, even for kids like me. Ultimately, I was named a Woodruff Scholar at Emory Law and received a full-tuition scholarship, which allowed me to pursue a juris doctorate degree. In law school, I took an internship with the Georgia Innocence Project and from then on, knew I wanted to devote my legal career to criminal defense.
After graduation, I became a public defender and then an assistant federal defender. Today, I own my own boutique criminal defense law firm in Midtown Atlanta: Parmer Law. I have been named a Super Lawyer Rising Star — an award given to just 2.5% of attorneys across the state — every year since I’ve been in private practice. My firm focuses on defending high-stakes cases, predominately in federal court. I am also an adjunct professor at Emory Law, where I teach Advanced Criminal Trial Advocacy and serve on the board of directors of the Georgia Innocence Project. I frequently speak at conferences across the country, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) Defending Modern Drug Cases Conference and Sex Crimes Conference. I’m also a sought-after television legal analyst and appear frequently on CourtTV, FOX, ABC, NBC, Black News Channel, and other national news networks. In addition to catching me on television analyzing the cases of others, you might see me discussing one of my own: I recently joined the post-conviction team defending Joseph Maldonado, AKA “Joe Exotic.”
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
According to recent statistics, one out of every three children in America lives in poverty. Though growing up in poverty certainly does not preclude one from having a good childhood or a loving childhood, like many in this country, I did grow up very poor. I also grew up in a rather nontraditional setting, the lovechild of a couple of countercultural hippies. My dad was a psychedelic cartoonist extraordinaire. My mother was a feminist, a free spirit, and, by all accounts, an excellent mother to my sisters and me. On one hand, my life was colorful and bohemian. There were paintings and art supplies everywhere; my mom sewed our clothes, backpacks, and bedding; we’d eat from giant batches of “peasant food,” as my dad called it, one-pot meals that would last for a week and feed plenty. On the other hand, my life was limited. Getting injured did not mean I went to the doctor; a holiday did not mean gifts; and afternoons and weekends were spent not with friends but working part-time jobs so I would have enough money for class field trips and orthodontic braces.
I can’t pinpoint exactly how or why I started seriously considering law school. It was a combination of many things that led me to study for the LSAT and begin the application process. But I can pinpoint exactly when I knew that I would be able to attend law school. It wasn’t after my applications were submitted or when acceptances started rolling in. It was the moment I got a phone call from the admissions office at Emory Law, telling me that I was offered the Woodruff Fellowship and could attend law school tuition-free, with a stipend every semester. Without a scholarship, I would never have ended up where I am today.
I knew I wanted to begin my career fighting on behalf of the indigent, which is why I pursued public defense work. When I was in law school, few people were interested in indigent defense or criminal defense, generally. The question I was asked most was “Why would you defend those people?” or “What do you do if your client is guilty?” These days, with more people concerned about social justice, police and prison reform, and de-carceration, those questions have become less and less frequent. My job is to defend rights. No matter who you, where you come, or what you’re accused of doing (even if you actually did it), you still have all of the rights afforded under our Constitution. I believe in forgiveness and mercy and radical love. And I am pretty sure I have the greatest job in the world.
These days, as my private law firm grows and I take on more high-profile cases, the biggest challenge is staying true to myself. The legal world — especially the world of federal criminal defense — is male-dominated. And the males, for the most part, are old and white. As a woman who loves glamour and red lipstick and high heels, I stand out a bit. But I have never really fit in and don’t need to now. My priority is my clients and I continue to get outstanding results. My reputation is that of a fierce, effective, compassionate advocate (despite my uniform of a skirt and stilettos).
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Parmer Law is a boutique law firm in Atlanta, providing high-stakes criminal defense to select clientele, predominately in federal court.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@parmer.law
- Website: www.parmer.law
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollyparmer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParmerCriminalDefense
Image Credits
Richard Miller, Brian Caskey
