Passings: Alaskan Kyle Parker, law partner at Holland & Hart, and avid fisherman

Anchorage resident Kyle Parker, partner of Holland & Hart, died Thursday after an intense battle with cancer. He was 59.

Parker joined Holland & Hart in 2017, bringing with him a team from Crowell & Moring and launching Holland & Hart’s Anchorage office. “Kyle was a perfect fit for H&H, quickly becoming an integral part of the life of the firm,” the company wrote.

Parker was born on May 6, 1965, the son of David and Carol Parker. His late father worked in the Nixon Administration. Raised in Northern Virginia, Kyle Parker had a front row seat witnessing the political world of neighboring Washington, D.C. His father also introduced him to the beauty and majesty of Alaska as a child, thus igniting a passion for and love of The Last Frontier, its people, its culture and its history, a love that lasted a lifetime.

After graduating from law school in 1991, Parker pursued his dream of living and practicing law in Alaska. He began his legal career as an attorney with the Alaska Department of Law and later joined Gov. Wally Hickel’s Administration.

In 1995, Parker was recruited to private practice with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C. That move took him back to Washington D.C., where he met his wife, Michelle. Two years later, he and Michelle returned to Alaska, where he opened that firm’s Anchorage office. In 2009, Kyle, along with now retired Holland & Hart partner John Martin, left Patton Boggs to open the Crowell & Moring Anchorage office.

Parker built a wide-ranging law practice, primarily assisting clients with matters involving their Alaska natural resource holdings and infrastructure assets. He defended clients in environmental litigation, from response and cleanup actions, to civil and criminal enforcement.

He earned the trust and deep respect of his clients in his over 30 years of practicing law in Alaska and Washington, D.C. His legal acumen, keen sense of the prevailing political environment, excellent connections, people skills and judgment, as well as his guiding hand are all at the center of infrastructure projects that have resulted in billions of dollars in economic development within the State of Alaska.

Kyle Parker was also a mentor and team builder. Immediately after joining Holland & Hart, he began building numerous client teams, which often included 30 or more Holland & Hart attorneys. He was administrative partner for Alaska in the law firm known as the largest environmental law practice in the country, according to Law360, with 16 offices across the Mountain West and in Washington, D.C.

He loved the great outdoors of Alaska, and fishing was in his DNA. He was an active member of FISHCOM, through which he introduced his colleagues to the legendary experience of fishing at Alaska’s Newhalen Lodge, an annual event which Parker curated for clients, colleagues, and friend. 

At his core, Kyle Parker was a people person who was recognized widely for his ability to connect with everyone. And once you spent any time with him, you had a friend for life, his friends recall. He had a passion for cooking and loved nothing more than to play host to his clients, colleagues, friends and family, which more often than not included a home-cooked meal with his wife, Michelle as co-host.