R. Rex Parris

R. Rex Parris is an American attorney and the current mayor of Lancaster, California.
== Early life and education ==
Raymond "Rex" Parris Jr., the third of four boys, was born in 1952 to Raymond Parris and Jeanne Powers in Palmdale, CA. After losing his leg in a motorcycle accident, the elder Parris left the family when Rex was 11, leaving his mother, a waitress, to raise her sons on her own. Rex Parris began working at age 14 while still in school; he quit attending in 10th grade to work full-time as a busboy. Parris recalls this time in his life as being very dark; he turned to drugs and nearly went to jail. 
A few years later, Parris began attending Antelope Valley College before eventually transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was accepted into the prestigious Scholar’s Program and majored in Law & Society. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School in 1980. 
Parris was certified as a Master Advocate in 1991 by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in Washington, D.C. He has been a member of the State Bar of California since 1980.
== Career ==
=== Law ===
In 1985, R. Rex Parris founded the PARRIS Law Firm with his wife Carrol in Lancaster, California. Today the firm's practice covers most areas of Personal injury lawyer, including Traffic collision, Workers' compensation, premises liability, Toxic tort, environmental law and employment Class action. In 2009, Parris was lead counsel in obtaining a $370 million jury verdict against Georges Marciano, founder of Guess (clothing). In 2021 he obtained a $120 million dollar verdict in a traffic accident case. 
In 2021, the PARRIS Law Firm, together with Panish, Shea & Boyle and other plaintiffs’ counsel, settled with Southern California Gas Company and its parent company Sempra Energy for $1.8 billion. The case stemmed from a gas blowout in 2015 and subsequent misconduct. The gas leak spewed close to 100,000 tons of methane and other gases into the air for 112 days resulting in more than 8,000 people fleeing their homes in what was the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history. The settlement compensates more than 35,000 plaintiffs. 
In October, 2021, a jury awarded $49.6 million to a California Highway Patrol officer who was severely injured in the line of duty. 
Since its founding and as of 2021, the PARRIS Law Firm has recovered $3.2 billion in verdicts and settlements. 
Parris is currently handling a case alleging the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power covered up a gas leak at the Sun Valley Generating Plant for three years. 
The firm is representing people who live near the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant affected by the release of hydrogen sulfide following a sewage spill in July 2021. 
Parris is fighting for Latino voters in the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica after an appellate panel reversed a trial court victory. The lawsuit seeks a district-based voting system that allows more equitable representation of the large Latino population in Santa Monica. 
The Daily Journal, one of the West’s top legal news sources, recognized Parris as one of California’s top plaintiff lawyers. 
Parris regularly speaks at trial lawyer associations and Continuing legal education seminars throughout the United States. He frequently is the keynote speaker at events sponsored by the prestigious Trial Lawyers University.
The Metropolitan News, a legal newspaper in Los Angeles, named Parris the 2018 Person of the Year, and Best Lawyers named him 2018 Lawyer of the Year. 
=== Philanthropy ===
R. Rex Parris High School in Palmdale, California is named for the philanthropy of Parris. 
In 2014, Parris and his wife Carrol established the Parris Institute for Professional Excellence at Pepperdine University with a gift of $2.2 million.
PARRIS Cares is a charity arm of the Parris Law Firm that contributes to education, safety and health in the Antelope Valley. 
=== Other business interests ===
R Rex Parris is also the Chairman of the Board for CarthroniX a biotech that has several drugs in the pipeline. They will soon start human trials for one drug that cures osteoarthritis in large animals. Another drug in pipeline appears to stop pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Rex and Carrol were the angel investors which enabled CarthroniX to develop the revolutionary drugs that may change the way medicine is delivered throughout the world. Rex and Carrol are significant donors for longevity research at USC. 
== Mayor of Lancaster, California ==
=== Elections ===
R. Rex Parris was first elected mayor of Lancaster, California in April 2008. He was subsequently re-elected in April of 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020. In 2020, Parris won a fifth term as mayor with 69 percent of the vote. 
=== Tenure ===
Since his election, Parris has taken steps to make Lancaster a "Net Zero City." In 2015, Lancaster became the first city in the world to generate more clean energy than it consumes. Lancaster was the first city in the world to require all new housing to be net zero. 
In July 2010, the City of Lancaster partnered with SolarCity to launch the Solar Lancaster program, a solar financing program for homeowners, business owners and nonprofit organizations. In 2015, Parris and the City of Lancaster launched Lancaster Choice Energy, a nonprofit, locally-run energy company for Lancaster businesses and residents.
As mayor, Parris in 2010 launched a dynamic economic development division that attracted manufacturing giants BYD (makers of electric buses and advanced battery technology) and Morton Manufacturing to Lancaster. Other initiatives from the division include the Medical Main Street, LED Streetlight Conversion, and Green Energy Public Transportation initiatives. Lancaster’s Antelope Valley Transit Authority|Antelope Valley Transportation Agency is the first public bus agency with 100% of their fleet electric buses. 
Parris was involved with many city initiatives, including the Lancaster Wellness Homes, Lancaster Community Impact Homes and YOLO Lancaster. He has made it his mission to reduce crime. Parris was a catalyst for Lancaster’s downtown renaissance, which transformed the heart of the city into a massive cultural epicenter. 
Supported by a unanimous 2021 vote by the City Council, Parris has led efforts to start a public health agency specifically for Lancaster. These efforts come after a vote of no confidence was issued against the LA County Department of Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic in California|COVID-19 pandemic. 
Throughout his tenure, Parris has been known for a history of controversial remarks.
He once proposed a $32 million, 10-story Buddha statue complex to help welcome Chinese companies. In 2011, with the city shouldering a disproportionate share of Section 8 housing, Parris accused the Los Angeles County Housing Authority of using the city as a dumping ground for the poor and homeless. He has strong views on mask wearing and advocacy of mandatory COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccines. 
Under Parris’ leadership as Mayor, the city of Lancaster in 2012 was awarded a first place prize in the “Fire” category of Wolfgang Neumann’s Energy Globe World Award in Vienna, Austria. 
Parris is a frequent keynote speaker on climate extinction at conferences throughout the world and was nominated twice for the King Zayad Award at the World Energy Forum. The United States Environmental Protection Agency honored Parris as the 2019 Greenpower Leader for the Nation. 
Parris is a founder of the Lancaster Child-Abuse Task Force, the Antelope Valley War on Gangs and the Valley Volunteers Program. He also has served as chairman of the Antelope Valley Hospital Community Benefits Advisory Council.
== Personal life ==
Parris is married to his wife Carrol, with whom he has four children. They have six grandchildren. Their son, Rutger Parris, was sworn into the California State Bar by his father in December 2017. Their son Khail Parris passed the bar in 2015 and is now a leading attorney in the firm often serving alongside his father in trials. Parris’ brother, Robert Parris, a former CHP officer, has been an attorney with the firm since 1992. Parris purchased a home previously owned by Lee Iacocca in Laguna Beach, California in April 2020 for $6.6 million. The home is now valued at $10.3 million after an extensive remodel.
Category:American lawyers 
Category:1952 births
Category:People from Lancaster, California
Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians