news
Carruthers & Roth Attorney Ron Johnson Receives Inaugural Philanthropic Leadership Award
September 19, 2024
About
Ron Johnson focuses his practice on estate planning, estate administration, business law and nonprofit corporations. In addition to being board certified in estate planning and probate law, he is a former board member and past president of the Greensboro Estate Planning Council. He also has been repeatedly recognized by Business North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” — ranked by his peers for his excellence in the area of Tax & Estate Planning.
Before joining Carruthers & Roth, Ron was an attorney in the Greensboro law firm Johnson, Peddrick & McDonald. The firm was dissolved in 2021 when three of Johnson, Peddrick & McDonald’s attorneys joined Carruthers & Roth.
In addition to his commitment to his profession, Ron is well-known for his service to the community. He has founded community nonprofits, served on many nonprofit boards and earned kudos for his leadership.
Education
- University of South Carolina, B.A., Magna Cum Laude, 1971
- University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., Cum Laude, 1974
Professional Memberships and Activities
- American Bar Association
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Greensboro Bar Association
- Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section of local, state and national bar associations
- Greensboro Estate Planning Council, including Board Membership (1995-2004) and service as President (2002-2003)
Awards and Recognitions
- Selected to the “Icons & Phenoms” list by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly (2024)
- Legal Practice Hall of Fame from the North Carolina Bar Association (2023)
- Business North Carolina: Legal Elite, Tax & Estate Planning, 2002-2003, 2006-2011,
2014-2019, 2024 - 2018 Julia Nile for Love of Family Award from Family Services of the Piedmont, honoring
42 years of service - Triad Society of Professional Fundraisers’ Greensboro Philanthropist of the Year, 2017
- North Carolina Bar Association Centennial Award for outstanding and exemplary
community service, 2015 - Guilford Green Foundation 2015 Visionary Award, the highest recognition given to a
community member - Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Award for outstanding service to the LGBT
community in North and South Carolina, 2014 - “Best Attorney” in the 2014 Greensboro News & Record’s Readers’ Choice Best of the
Triad awards - North Carolina Super Lawyers, Estate Planning and Probate (2007, 2010, 2011-2013)
- Planned Parenthood’s 2013 Sally S. Cone Health Hero Award for his role in founding the
Greensboro Planned Parenthood Clinic - Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro’s Thornton Brooks Leadership Award,
2005 - Greensboro Bar Association award for Outstanding Pro-Bono Service, 2004
- Multiple recognitions from the Triad Health Project – including a 1995 Founder’s Award
and the naming of both a fundraising walk and a 5K run in his honor - James T. Isler Friend of Family and Children’s Service Award, 1995
- Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, 1986
Community Service
- Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Former Board Member, Executive
Committee Member and Chair of the Professional Advisors Committee - Founder of Women’s Aide: Services for Abused Women, now a part of Family Service of
the Piedmont - Former Board President of Family and Children’s Service of Greensboro, predecessor to
Family Services of the Piedmont. - Family Service of Greensboro Foundation, Former Board Member and Officer
- Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women, Former Member and the first man
elected Chair - North Carolina for Community and Justice, Former Board Member
- Planned Parenthood of Greensboro, Founding Board Member
- Planned Parenthood of the Triad, Former Board Member
- Triad Health Project, a Founder, Former Board Member and Past President
- Guilford Green Foundation, a Founder, Former Board Member and Former Advisory
Committee Member - Triad Stage, Former Board Member
- Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro (now AuthoraCare Collective), Board Member,
Former Chair of the Donor Relations and Cultivation Committee, and Member of
Executive Committee - Hospice Foundation of Greater Greensboro (now AuthoraCare Foundation), Founding
Member and First Board Chair - Women’s Resource Center of Greensboro, Former Board Member and Former “Chef
Chair” for “Men Can Cook” Signature Fundraiser
Bar and Court Admissions
- North Carolina, 1974
- U.S. Middle District of North Carolina, 1974