Carol W. Hunstein, a justice serving on the Supreme Court of Georgia, will deliver the keynote address at the School of Law’s Commencement to be held May 20 at 10 a.m.
Hunstein was appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court in November 1992, becoming the second woman in history to serve as a permanent member of the court. From 2009 to 2013, she served as the court’s chief justice.
Previously, Hunstein served as a judge on the Superior Court of DeKalb County. While serving on this judicial body, in 1989, she was appointed chair of the Georgia Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System. She also served as the district director of the National Association of Women Judges and was the first woman to serve as president of the Council of Superior Court Judges. By virtue of the latter office, in 1991, she became the first person ever to have served as chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court before becoming a permanent member of the court. (In 1991, all seven sitting justices recused themselves and designated seven Superior Court judges to hear and decide a case. As president of the council, she served by designation as chief justice.)
She has chaired the 1993, 1998 and 2001 State Commissions on Child Support Guidelines. Before becoming chief justice, Hunstein chaired the Georgia Commission on Access and Fairness, charged with implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Gender Bias and the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias. She also chaired the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee and the Georgia Commission on Interpreters.
Hunstein earned her Juris Doctor in 1976 from the Stetson University College of Law. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and her associate’s degree from Miami-Dade Junior College.
Approximately 200 students will receive degrees at the ceremony, including 181 who have earned the Juris Doctor, 13 who have earned the Master of Laws and three who have earned the Master in the Study of Law. This year’s Commencement will be held at the University of Georgia Ramsey Center.