Perry Mason deserves a shout-out for turning Virginia Fry into an attorney – at least a little. The young Fry wasn’t allowed to watch television unless it was “Perry Mason,” which her mother enjoyed.
“I always thought that was pretty cool what he did,” Fry says of the character played by Raymond Burr.
It helped that Fry knew a real-life attorney, her father’s friend, and her parents were education advocates who expected her to pursue her studies. “I kind of grew up with the idea that you wanted a profession,” says Fry, a partner at Husch Blackwell LLP. “I figured out there was a difference between a job and a profession.”
Fry had a business bent and earned a bachelor’s degree in finance at Missouri State University, which gave her a head start on her Master of Business Administration. She wanted to work before attending law school, so she studied for her MBA while working full time.
Fry worked for the city of Springfield’s legal department. “I got to do really interesting things, like investigate health department complaints … contract things in the office,” she says.
Fry also joined the police cadets in their classes on criminal procedure and due process. “It was cool. Plus, I got to drive a 1968 police car,” she says.
After earning her law degree at University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she was a member of the UMKC Law Review, Fry began her career in Springfield in 1980. She is a litigator on Husch Blackwell’s Healthcare, Life Sciences & Pharmaceuticals industry team, which includes education. Fry also has banking clients and is on the firm’s executive board. She has received multiple awards, including recognition by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America publications.
“I do a lot of different things, which is why I’m still practicing law, because I still enjoy it,” she says. “If I had to do the same thing, I’d be bored.”
It’s hard to imagine Fry finding time for boredom. She grew up on a dairy farm and the dawn-to-dusk work ethic was instilled early, which helps her balance court, travel, firm responsibilities, family and the more than 100 emails she receives a day.
Fry plans to bring that same work ethic to the Missouri State Board of Governors, an appointment she received from Gov. Jay Nixon in October.[[In-content Ad]]
Springfield Business Journal’s annual Day in the Life feature is back, this time taking you into the day of a health care leader, school district superintendent and brewery owner.
