Continuity of Community
Attorney Bert Parnall’s philanthropy inspired by his parents’ guidance
By Michelle G. McRuiz
Bert Parnall stands with his wife Marta Strzyzewski, his parents Kathyrn and Ted, and family outside of the Theodore Parnall Classroom.
For Bert Parnall, the University of New Mexico School of Law is more than the place where he earned his law degree—it’s the backdrop to a lifelong journey rooted in family, service, and community. His father, Theodore “Ted” Parnall, was a professor and Dean of the School of Law (1986-1991), and during his youth, Bert often accompanied him to campus, where he developed an early appreciation for the legal community around him. Those formative experiences ultimately led him to return and graduate from the School of Law in 1997.
“The law school was my home,” says Bert. “The professors’ kids and I would hunt for Easter eggs on the lawn. It was a great community.”
Ted Parnall’s remarkable legal career deeply influenced Bert’s worldview and sense of purpose. Ted’s work spanned corporate law, securities law, and international business transactions. He also taught and advised on the development of legal information systems during long-term overseas assignments in Senegal, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tunisia, Laos, Vietnam, and beyond.
“He was named Chair of the Judicial Selection Commission in the late 1980s and was part of a new wave of attorneys going to all parts of New Mexico to interview people applying to be judges,” Bert says. “It was an incredibly fortuitous and well-thought-out way to keep the School of Law connected to the broader legal community.”
In 2024, Bert and his wife Marta honored his father’s legacy with a significant gift to the School of Law, renaming Room 2403 in Bratton Hall the Theodore Parnall Classroom.
“My parents were immensely pleased,” says Bert. “Dad said it was the best thing he could have imagined. He spent a lot of time teaching in that classroom.”
Finding his own community
Born and raised in Albuquerque, Bert’s early life was shaped by a global perspective. As his father took on international legal posts, Bert spent extended periods in countries like Ethiopia, Egypt, and Laos.
“My formative years were colored with these experiences and long residences,” recalls Bert. “Growing up seeing the rule of law in other countries was just fascinating. But I always came back to the same home, three blocks away from the School of Law.”
These experiences instilled in him a deep appreciation for the diversity of cultures and legal systems. While an undergraduate at Rice University, Bert majored in history and French and spent more than two years in an independent study program in France. But he was not always sold on attending law school.
“I took a year off between college and law school,” he says, “and even one year into law school, I decided to quit. I went back to France to finish a play I wanted to write. I also joined a blues band and played throughout France.
“I finished the play, but realized I didn’t want to be a full-time musician, so I went to California to live with my brother for a few months,” Bert continues. “I wrote songs, short stories, and plays, but I didn’t have a community. And I was making minimum wage and could not see a compelling future. My father had previously told me, ‘If you don’t know what you want to do, go to law school. It’s a good basis for a lot of things.’ And I had done mock trial in high school and liked the adversarial nature of it. So, I returned to law school.”
Bert completed law school, passed the bar in 1997, and went into trial law. “Dad wasn’t a trial lawyer; he specialized in corporate transactions and was an expert in that,” Bert says. “I, on the other hand, was compelled to fight for somebody. I felt a strong sense of purpose when I became a prosecutor. But Dad has always offered me immense guidance, and my mother also has been a rock of stability and support.”
Bert began his legal career as a Senior Trial Prosecutor in Valencia and Sandoval Counties, where he handled some of New Mexico’s most serious criminal cases. In 2004, he transitioned to personal injury law, seeking to make a broader impact by representing people harmed by negligence.
In 2009, Bert founded Parnall Law. What began as a solo practice has grown into one of New Mexico’s leading personal injury firms, with 15 attorneys and over 110 team members. Under Bert’s leadership, the firm has recovered more than $400 million for clients. But more than the results, it is the firm’s values—Team, Talent, Truth, Tenacity, and Triumph—that define its culture and mission.
Through his firm, Bert actively supports local causes such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Make-A-Wish, Meals on Wheels, and the Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. His philanthropy reflects the values instilled in him from a young age.
Outside the office, Bert leads a vibrant life with his wife, Marta Strzyzewski, Miss New Mexico 2001. The two met in a Walgreens and were engaged just two weeks later. They now live in Albuquerque with their four children. Bert is also a third-degree black belt in judo and teaches regularly in a dojo he designed and built for the community.
Beyond the JD
Bert’s commitment to justice extends far beyond litigation. In 2013, he and one of his father’s best friends and fellow attorney John Mel Eaves created the Kathryn and Ted Parnall Scholarship for Law as an Instrument of Economic Growth and Social Development. That gift, Bert says, planted the seed for future philanthropy.
The School of Law has long offered a community of continuity that goes beyond education to connect students and faculty with the legal community, he says. And the school has a history of intellectual rigor.
“The law professors my father worked with weren’t solely professors,” says Bert. “They were such brilliant, practical-minded people that they were called to help New Mexico businesses and political agencies, serving in important political positions, working on drafts of Civil Procedure rules, annotations to the Uniform Commercial Code, and more. They’ve been involved at a very high level. They didn’t want to keep themselves in a silo.”
The scholarship honors his father’s international legal work and his mother Kathy’s remarkable contributions to improving U.S.-Vietnam relations through music and cultural diplomacy. She sang in Vietnamese at the Hanoi Opera House, the Hanoi Conservatory of Music, and at concerts for people who were blind or affected by natural disasters, using her voice to foster healing and connection.
Bert remains a dedicated supporter of the legal community. He previously served on the School of Law Alumni Association Board of Directors and continues to sponsor the annual Distinguished Achievement Awards Dinner (DAAD).
Events like the DAAD “bring people together to recognize and celebrate distinguished alumni and show that we care about the community,” he says. “Scholarships are similar. We give money to help a student, but it’s also an opportunity for us to show our faces and tell students we are interested in them.”
Bert sees his path as a continuation of the values he grew up with: A belief in the power of law to do good and the importance of investing in the community.
“The School of Law has a lot of potential to shape how the rule of law is implemented and how justice is meted out in New Mexico,” Bert continues. “Giving back to the school is a way for me to recognize the sense of community it has given me—and to help influence the continuity of that ethos.”
“The Parnall family has had a special relationship with the School,” says Dean Camille Carey of the UNM School of Law. “Ted, Kathy, Bert, and Marta have been very generous with their time and financial support in educating the next generation of lawyers. The Parnall family legacy extends throughout our legal community with Ted’s brother Bill Parnall, a UNM Law graduate who now serves as a judge; Bert’s brother Charles Parnall, who also graduated from our law school and practices as an injury and civil rights lawyer in Albuquerque; and their brother David Parnall, an estate litigation lawyer in the Bay Area. We are lucky to have the backing of Bert and Marta's philanthropy, and we celebrate this recognition of their great generosity.”