Athens, Ga. – Earlier this month, longtime University of Georgia law professor Ronald L. Carlson received a lifetime achievement award from the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA). The honor was presented at the GTLA’s annual seminar and convention on May 6.
In presenting the award, GTLA member Terrance C. Sullivan said Carlson was a worthy recipient of the lifetime achievement award, the second ever given by the GTLA, because of his “staunch support” of the justice system.
Georgia Law Dean Rebecca H. White said the recognition is a testament to what Carlson, a teaching legend at the School of Law, means to the lawyers in the state of Georgia. “Ron is someone who has made a significant difference in the lives of lawyers and in the practice of law, and we are so fortunate to have him on our faculty.”
A prodigious scholar and lecturer, Carlson has written numerous books on evidence, trial practice and criminal procedure as well as scores of articles in prominent law reviews. His most recent titles are Criminal Justice Procedure, which was released earlier this year, and A Student’s Guide to Elements of Proof.
He has been a member of the UGA law faculty since 1984. After his partial retirement in 2001, he became the Fuller E. Callaway Chair of Law Emeritus.
Carlson lectures at continuing legal education seminars across the country and frequently leads seminars for judges and lawyers in Georgia. He also informs the public about the law and legal issues through his widely distributed commentary in the media on high-profile cases.
He received the Roscoe Pound Foundation’s Richard S. Jacobson Award, honoring a single national law professor for the teaching of trial advocacy in 1987 and, in 1992 he received the Federal Bar Association’s highest honor, the Earl W. Kintner Award for Distinguished Service to the Federal Bar Association.
In 1989, Carlson was chosen as the first law professor to win the Josiah Meigs Award, UGA’s highest honor for teaching excellence. He has also received every faculty honor presented by the law school student body at least once: the Student Bar Association Faculty Book Award for Excellence in Teaching, the John C. O’Byrne Memorial Faculty Award for Significant Contributions Furthering Student-Faculty Relations and the Student Bar Association and Younger Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Georgia Award for the Teaching of Legal Ethics. Additionally, on four occasions, he has been selected by the graduating class to serve as honorary class marshal at commencement.
Carlson earned his bachelor’s degree at Augustana College, his law degree at Northwestern University and his master of laws at Georgetown University.
The granting of this honor came on the heels of the announcement of a new student award bearing Carlson’s name, which was initiated by GTLA president and 1970 Georgia Law alumnus Dennis T. Cathey. The Ronald L. Carlson Student Award for Excellence will be presented annually to a law student who excels in the school’s evidence course. The inaugural recipient was third-year student Amanda J. Bates.
Those funding the $12,500 endowment supporting the student award include the GTLA, several law firms and individual trial lawyers.