Rhonda J. Parish Named Partner at t|e General Counsel

With more than 30 years’ experience leading legal teams and guiding corporate leaders on a wide range of legal topics, Rhonda J. Parish is the latest prominent, in-house veteran attorney to join  t|e General Counsel, which is Taylor English Duma LLP’s fractional general counsel practice and was launched in fall 2020. 

“The breadth and depth of Rhonda’s expertise is an incredible asset to the team at t|e  General Counsel,”  Allen W. Nelson, co-founder of t|e General Counsel, said. “Her experience, particularly all she’s accomplished in the restaurant industry, complements our established bench of talent who will be working alongside Rhonda to expand our presence in the industry as a trusted business partner for restaurants nationwide.” 

Prior to joining t|e General Counsel, Parish - an alumnus of University of Arkansas School of Law and the University of Central Arkansas - was the chief legal officer at Ruby Tuesday. There, she successfully led the company through the sale process that resulted in the company going from public to private. She also previously served as chief legal and risk officer at Einstein Noah Restaurant Group and the chief legal officer at Denny’s. Before that, Parish was hired by Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to fill one of its first three in-house attorney positions and worked her way up to assistant general counsel. 

In her new role, Parish will work with companies on a myriad of legal and compliance challenges including corporate governance, diversity and inclusiveness, P&L management, and legal department best practices. She joins more than a dozen other attorneys at t|e General Counsel who have in-house experience with diverse legal and industry skill sets, including Harold M. “Sonny” Cohen, former general counsel and chief administrative officer of publicly-traded AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCE) and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., who was hired last year as part of the group’s expansion into the restaurant industry. 

“As our team grows at  t|e General Counsel, our approach remains the same: attract and reward top, diverse talent like Rhonda who work on matters effectively and efficiently,” said Marc Taylor, chair of Taylor English. “This is how we’re able to earn client trust quickly and, in turn, deliver increased value to both our external clients and our internal business partners who provide those clients with legal and advisory services as part of the Taylor English Duma family.”