Drew Parker

Overview

When not in the office or in court, Drew Parker divides his time between his home in Peoria and his farm on the Spoon River. He was raised in Peoria and graduated from Bergan High School prior to attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He then attended Chicago-Kent Law School where he was a member of the Law Review, and the sole recipient of the “Bar & Gavel” award for excellence during law school, upon graduation. He has practiced law since 1976, having been an Assistant Public Defender for both Cook and Peoria Counties and an Assistant State’s Attorney for Peoria County prior to establishing his private practice.

In 1996, and again each year thereafter, he has been selected as one of Illinois’ top legal counsel by the publication “Leading Illinois Attorneys,” which identifies the leading attorneys in the state. He further, in 2005, was included in “The Best Attorneys Network,” and for a number of years has been selected for inclusion in “Who’s Who Among American Lawyers.” In 2007, he was selected for inclusion in the Biltmore Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals. He has the highest rating possible with Martindale-Hubbell: AV-Preeminent. Most noteworthy, in the summer of 2008, he was named for inclusion in the “Top 50 Attorneys” in the entire State of Illinois outside of Chicago in the consumer edition of the Leading Lawyers Network Magazine, out of 20,000 attorneys in downstate Illinois, and 2011 became listed in the top 100 in the entire state, including Chicago. 

He has served on several law committees for both Peoria County Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association, and chaired the State Judicial Polling Committee. He has been a Master in the Clarence Darrow Inn of Court and the Abraham Lincoln Inn of Court, having been selected for membership by a group of attorneys and judges. He has been licensed to practice in Federal Court since 1978 and also the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 1983.

He is married to Rena’, who retired in June of 2021 as the Court Administrator for the Tenth Judicial Circuit. His son Rob is an attorney and has practiced law with the firm since the fall of 2009.

Drew received the National Certificate of Merit from the American Red Cross, which was signed by President Bill Clinton and awarded to Drew by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, in May of 1996 for saving the life of a drowning woman off the coast of Florida. His interests include attending to various activities on his farms on the Spoon River such as fishing, hunting, hiking, canoeing and the planting and maintenance of approximately 56,000 hardwood trees. As a conservationist, he and his family enjoy working closely with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Forestry Department in its efforts to improve the entire Spoon River watershed. His interests in the outdoors provide a valuable balance to his passion for the law.