Tidewater Roots
Kellam comes from a long line of Tidewater natives. His paternal grandfather’s family grew up on the Eastern Shore and Kellam’s grandfather, after whom he is named, moved to Norfolk as a young adult. Kellam’s paternal grandmother grew up in Norfolk. Both his parents grew up on the Southside and Kellam was raised in Virginia Beach.
Education
After graduating from the first full class at Salem High School in Virginia Beach in 1992, Kellam attended a small liberal arts college, St. Andrews University in North Carolina, where he fell in love with learning. Kellam graduated summa cum laude with a philosophy degree with honors in 1996, and a triple minor of politics, psychology, and law. After working three jobs the summer after college to save up money, Kellam began law school at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Kellam chose W&M due to its strong academic history and his desire to settle back in Tidewater once he graduated in 1999.
The Start of His Career As A Virginia Beach Lawyer
Kellam began his legal career with a mid-sized firm doing primarily insurance defense work and moved through a number of local firms seeking the right fit of practice areas, camaraderie, and compensation. After a little over six years at his last firm, where he was lucky to have found the best environment to practice law other than running his own shop, he did just that – founded the Law Office of Kellam T. Parks, PLLC in January, 2012.
What Makes Parks Zeigler, PLLC Different
One of the motivating factors of forming his own firm was to integrate modern technologies in his practice, which was hard to do in a larger firm environment. Kellam created the law firm to be paperless with cloud-based systems to enable immediate and remote access for himself and his clients. This has served the firm well as it transitioned over time to Parks Zeigler, PLLC. The attorneys and staff are able to utilize digital technologies for all aspects of the practice of law, from legal research to trial presentation. The law firm is also able to harness the power of social media to inform the public on the attorneys’ practice areas and keep in touch with their clients. Kellam's focus on technology keeps him up to date on the latest issues involving cybersecurity and data privacy, allowing him to better serve clients in this area of his practice.
Kellam has always been very active in legal-related organizations. He taught at Tidewater Community College for a number of years early in his career. He is active with both the Virginia Beach Bar Association, where he serves on the Circuit Court Liaison Committee, and the Norfolk/Portsmouth Bar Association, where he serves on the Executive Committee. Kellam also participates as a mentor in both organizations’ mentorship program, believing it is important to share what he’s learned over the years with newer attorneys. Kellam is also a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. He is very active with the Virginia State Bar, formerly serving as the chair of the Technology and Practice of Law Special Committee and the vice-chair of the Special Committee on the Future of Law Practice. Kellam currently serves as the chair of the recently created combined committee; the Special Committee on Technology and the Future Practice of Law. Kellam has authored numerous articles in various legal publications and teaches legal education courses to lawyers and the public across Virginia on his various practice areas and on the topic of the use of technology in the practice of law.
Kellam earned the Marketer of the Year Award from Great Legal Marketing. It was a proud achievement for Kellam and the firm, as the award recognizes the innovative and creative strategies employed to attract new clients. Attorneys from all over the country (and even abroad) recognized the innovative and creative things that Parks Zeigler is doing to ensure its message is heard through their vote.
Honors & Recognition
• 2019 Great Legal Marketing Marketer of the Year
• Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine
• Top Lawyer by Coastal Virginia Magazine
• Best Lawyers by US News
• Super Lawyers by Superlawyers.com
• AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Faculty member & author for Virginia CLE
• 10.0 rating by AVVO
More about Kellam
Away from the office, Kellam spends as much time with his family as he can. He met his beautiful wife Kelly in August of 2002 and they were married a little less than two years later. Kellam and Kelly raised their daughter Avery, who has been a dedicated ballet and contemporary dancer since age three, and Avery continued that passion as a dance major at Old Dominion University. Set to graduate early in December, 2019, Avery will be launching a dance studio co-owned with Kelly and Kellam in 2020. Family is important to Kellam and he is extremely fortunate that he has had his sister Deborah working with him at the firm as the Office Manager since the formation of the firm in 2012.
Kellam (obviously) enjoys exploring and tinkering with various forms of technology. He also enjoys working out, reading, and listening to almost all genres of music (however often laments his almost total lack of musical ability). He is a Star Wars superfan and enjoys all things SW-related. Having had the good fortune to travel during college (spending a month abroad studying in Switzerland and getting a whirlwind tour of Europe including Italy, Albania, France, Amsterdam, Germany, and Luxembourg) and law school (taking summer classes in Madrid, Spain at the Colegio Mayor Universitario San Pablo), Kellam looks forward to traveling abroad again and sharing the experience with his wife and daughter in the coming years.
Kellam's Recognitions
• Kellam T. Parks has received AV Preeminent recognition
• Best Lawyers recognizes Kellam T. Parks
• Super Lawyers recognizes Virginia Beach lawyer Kellam T. Parks
• Kellam T. Parks is recognized by Coastal Virginia's Top Lawyers
• Legal Elite recognizes Kellam T. Parks
• Kellam T. Parks has a 10.0 rating from AVVO
• Kellam T. Parks is a recognized as a Super Lawyer
• Virginia CLE 2017 Author Kellam T. Parks
• Virginia CLE Faculty Kellam T. Parks
