ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amber Carson has been selected to receive the 2024 American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service, which honors an American Inn of Court member in practice 10 years or fewer for their excellence in public interest or pro bono activities. Carson, a partner at Gray Reed in Dallas, will receive the award at the American Inns of Court 2024 Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States.
“[Carson’s] personal experiences, including the foreclosure of her childhood home, and later, overcoming a life-changing diagnosis of leukemia, have fueled her unparalleled dedication to living with purpose and intention by helping and supporting others and working towards a more diverse and inclusive legal community,” writes Omar J. Alaniz, president of the Hon. John C. Ford American Inn of Court, who nominated Carson for the award on behalf of the Inn. “Her passion for assisting others is unmatched.”
At Gray Reed, Carson focuses on bankruptcy and insolvency. Before joining the firm, she was a law clerk to Chief Judge Harlin D. Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. After earning her law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2012, Carson—a first-generation lawyer—served as director of legal education at BARBRI, which provides education and tutoring to law students taking the bar exam. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2009.
In 2018, Carson chaired the American Inns of Court New Lawyers Task Force and used data from a national survey of Inn members to enhance recruitment and engagement of young attorneys. Carson is also committed to diversifying the bankruptcy law community. Chair-elect of the State Bar of Texas’s Bankruptcy Law Section Council, she cofounded and now directs a pro bono project at Southern Methodist University that links students with indigent clients seeking bankruptcy relief. She also established a scholarship for underrepresented students. Carson will become chair of the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation in 2026, served as president of the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Young Bankruptcy Lawyers in 2021, and serves on the board of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Carson provides pro bono legal services through Texas Free Legal Answers and assists applicants applying for U-visas through the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. She is a peer volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes nearly 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in more than 360 chapters nationwide. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.
