Atlanta, GA — The Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Dispute Resolution (The Commission) and the Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Georgia have awarded the 2018 Chief Justice Harold G. Clarke Award to Raytheon (Raye) M. Rawls, Esq., in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Georgia.

Raye Rawls, Esq. Courtesy of University
of Georgia’s J.W. Fanning Institute

Raye Rawls is senior public service faculty at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia. She has worked in the field of dispute resolution since receiving mediation training in 1982, providing ADR neutral and training services to numerous court programs and private organizations. Ms. Rawls is a long standing approved trainer through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution (GODR) and has served as a mediator, arbitrator, and facilitator in thousands of cases throughout the United States and internationally. In the early 1990s, she worked with a team of experts in domestic violence to craft the first set of guidelines on mediating when domestic violence is identified among parties. Over the past three years, she helped facilitate a domestic violence working group to transition these guidelines into rules- which were approved by both the Commission on Dispute Resolution and the Commission on Family Violence this year. She was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to serve the Commission on Dispute Resolution from 2002-2007.

“Throughout her career, Raye has stayed at the forefront of dispute resolution, working across Georgia and beyond to train individuals in mediation and dialogue skills,” said Maritza Soto Keen, Fanning Institute Interim Director. “Her work has helped countless communities, organizations and individuals around the state, and we are proud of her accomplishments. This award is a well-deserved honor for Raye.”

Tracy Johnson, Executive Director, Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution; and Stacey Mitchener, Esq., President, Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Georgia hold the 5th Harold Clarke Award and plaque.

Ms. Rawls was announced as the 5th award honoree on Friday, December 8, at the 25th Annual Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute and 2018 Neutrals’ Conference in Atlanta. There to present the award were Ms. Tracy Johnson and Ms. Stacey Mitchener. The Commission and the Dispute Resolution Section created the Clarke Award in 2013 to honor the memory of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold G. Clarke. From 1990 to 1994, when Clarke served as Chief Justice, he led the Supreme Court and the State Bar in creating a system of processes- such as mediation, arbitration, and early neutral evaluation- that helped courts manage their heavy dockets and offered litigants productive ways to resolve their legal disputes outside of litigation.

Past Recipients:

2013 – Ansley B. Barton, Esq, mediator, mediation trainer, and founding director GODR 2015 – Edith B. Primm, Esq., Director of the Justice Center of Atlanta

2016 – Douglas H. Yarn, Esq., Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law 2017 – R. Wayne Thrope Thorpe, Esq., ADR Neutral for JAMS