WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2020 — The American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) will honor Robert H. Jerry, II, the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor-Emeritus at University of Missouri School of Law, with its Robert B. McKay Award, which recognizes law professors who have shown commitment to the advancement of justice, scholarship and the legal profession, demonstrated by outstanding contributions to the fields of tort, trial practice or insurance law.
The award will be presented at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Austin, Texas, during the TIPS Networking Reception on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Austin.
Jerry’s teaching and research interests are in insurance law, health care finance and access, negotiation, dispute resolution, contracts and lawyering.
“Professor Robert Jerry’s scholarship has greatly influenced the insurance industry. His work on the insurance implications of current events, from climate change to terrorism, is second to none,”
said TIPS Chair Thea Capone, noting that Jerry has contributed numerous books, book chapters, articles, and essays to the advancement of the insurance field.
Jerry returned to the Missouri Law School faculty in 2015, having previously held the Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professorship at the school from 1998-2003. From 2003-14, he served as dean of the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He also held the Levin Mabie and Levin Professorship at University of Florida Law School from 2003-15. Prior to his appointments at Missouri and Florida, he held the Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence at the University of Memphis from 1994-98, and he was a law professor at the University of Kansas from 1981-94, where he also served as dean from 1989-94.
“Nearly 40 years ago, Bob McKay visited for a semester at KU Law while I was a first-year law professor there,” Jerry said. “He was a wonderful example for me of a great teacher and scholar, and I am deeply honored and moved to receive this award bearing his name."
Jerry practiced law in Indianapolis from 1978-81 with the firm of Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd (now Barnes & Thornburg), and clerked for Judge George E. MacKinnon in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit during the 1977-78 term.
He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and past chair of the Insurance Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools. His committee and commission activities include service for the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws, the Florida Bar, the Supreme Court of the State of Florida and the American Law Institute.
He received his B.S. from Indiana State University in 1974 and J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1977.
There is no charge for media covering this event. To register, please contact Robert Robinson at 202-662-1097 or [email protected].
The ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section unites plaintiff, defense, insurance and corporate counsel to advance the civil justice system. TIPS is a national source of expertise in tort, trial and insurance practice and brings lawyers together to share information and speak out on issues of importance. The section has over 20,000 members and more than 30 general committees that focus on substantive and procedural matters in areas across the broad spectrum of civil law and practice. For more information about the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section visit the TIPS website, www.americanbar.org/tips.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. View our privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on Twitter @ABANews.