2005 Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award

H. Alston Johnson III

H. Alston Johnson III, of Baton Rouge received the 2005 LBF Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award. The award was presented in June during the Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.

Johnson was selected for his long-standing devotion to excellence in trial practice and for upholding the standards of ethics and consideration for the courts, litigants and all counsel in his practice of the law.

Johnson received a plaque signifying the honor bestowed to him. In addition, the award carries a $1,000 cash stipend, which the LBF donates to a non-profit law-related program or association providing services in the state of Louisiana in Johnson’s name.

H. Alston Johnson III is a managing partner of Phelps Dunbar’s Baton Rouge office. He graduated cum laude in 1967 from Georgetown University. He received his J.D. in 1970 from Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center where he was a senior associate editor of the Law Review . Prior to joining Phelps Dunbar in 1984, he was a full-time member of the law faculty at LSU for twelve years. He continues to teach as an adjunct member of that faculty, teaching primarily conflict of laws, federal courts and insurance.

His practice concentrates primarily in litigation, particularly at the appellate level and with particular emphasis in the areas of tort, insurance coverage, and administrative law. He has extensive experience in legislative, regulatory and governmental matters and has represented numerous public entities in both counseling and litigation capacities.

Johnson served on the LSBA Board of Governors from 1975 to 1976. He is a member of the LSBA, the American Bar Association, and the American Law Institute and a former member of the council of the Louisiana State Law Institute. He is a past president of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel and in 1988 he served as chair of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Tort, Workers’ Compensation and Insurance Reform. From 1973 to 1984, he served as consultant for the LSBA Law Reform Committee.

He is the author or co-author of three treatises on Louisiana law published by Thomson/West Publishing Company: Louisiana Workers’ Compensation (4th ed.), Louisiana Insurance Law (3rd ed. in manuscript) and Louisiana Civil Jury Instructions (2nd ed.).