One of the nation’s most successful civil justice attorneys, Bill Colson left a lasting legacy as he received nearly every honor that the nation’s trial attorneys and Miami’s business community could confer on him. He served as president of American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), and the Young Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar Board of Governors, and was a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

As a testament to his concern for social justice, he founded Leadership Miami, an annual program targeted toward men and women interested in making Miami a better place to live and to work, and the “Bill Colson Scholarship” for African-American students at the University of Miami School of Law, where more than 20 students have graduated and become members of the bar.

Colson was the first attorney in the country to ever secure a medical malpractice verdict of more than $1 million, winning $3 million for a woman who lost her leg due to improper medical care.

As the co-founder of one of South Florida’s oldest and most prestigious law firms, Colson helped pave the way for modern legal practices with regards to both medical malpractice and product liability litigation.