William D. Parsley graduated magna cum laude in 1954 from the Harvard University Law School, where he was a member of the editorial board of the Harvard Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1951. Following graduation from law school he was admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1957, the last two years as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate for the Headquarters Area Command, U.S. Army, Europe. Following release from active duty in late 1957, he joined the firm and was admitted to practice in Michigan in 1958. Mr. Parsley formerly headed the firm’s Banking and Bankruptcy Law Department, and was experienced in corporate, banking and public utility practice. He also served as Grievance Clerk for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing and on the Bar Journal Advisory Board, which oversees publication of the Michigan Bar Journal, the official journal of the State Bar of Michigan. He is a past director of the Rotary Club of Lansing. Mr. Parsley was named as a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation in 1989.

Mr. Parsley passed away on November 22, 2014 and was laid to rest on November 26, 2014.  Services were held at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing.