Montana lawyer Robert M. Carlson, assuming the ABA presidency this month at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, vowed to do everything in his power every single day “to advance our association and fight for America’s lawyers and the public we serve.”
In his speech to the ABA House of Delegates, Carlson – a shareholder with Corette Black Carlson & Mikelson in Butte - emphasized the ABA’s four goals: serve ABA members; improve the legal profession; eliminate bias and enhance diversity; and advance the rule of law.
He said the ABA will always be there “to protect and ensure an independent, impartial and adequately funded judiciary.”
“Without the rule of law, there is no justice, and without justice there is no freedom,” he said.
Carlson’s numerous ABA leadership positions include serving as chair of the ABA House of Delegates and the ABA Day in Washington Planning Committee. He also served on the Commission on Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Profession and on the Council of the Section of International Law. He is a patron fellow and past state chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
He is a past president of the State Bar of Montana and has served as a member of the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.
Carlson earned his B.A. from the University of Montana and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law. His civil trial and mediation practice primarily involves insurance defense, product liability, and insurance coverage.