Commisso, Cristina

Mr. Parnes is an associate in the Litigation/Controversy Department. He joined the firm in 2010.

Past Experience

Prior to starting at the firm, Mr. Parnes held a legal fellowship at the National Veterans Legal Services Program, where he drafted briefs for the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims on behalf of veterans seeking benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also counseled veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who were considering opting-in to a class action suit against the Department of Defense.

While at law school, Mr. Parnes interned at the Landlord and Tenant Resource Center, where he tracked litigants representing themselves in landlord and tenant court and issued a report to the DC Bar Pro Bono Program with recommendations about how to make the center more effective. Prior to law school, he worked as an intern in the External Affairs Department at the Center for American Progress.

While earning his degree in international relations, Mr. Parnes held a variety of internships that allowed him to review subpoenaed documents for evidence, draft responses to constituent inquiries and write a speech for a senator, and develop a set of 21 country profiles used in a report delivered to finance ministers of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

He also worked as a research intern with the communication team for the Kerry-Edwards For President campaign. That same year, Mr. Parnes spent time at the University of Bologna in Italy, where he studied Italian, art history, and political science.