Professor Carlos A. Yunsan, a native of Panama City, Panama, joined the UT faculty in August 2023, after spending half a decade as a judicial law clerk in Tennessee’s appellate courts, first for Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee and then for Judge Kristi M. Davis of the Court of Appeals. Yunsan has been teaching first-year courses in predictive and persuasive legal writing since 2018. His teaching approach is informed by his experience in the state appellate courts as well as several years of practice as a civil litigator with regional and local law firms. His scholarly interests include diversity and inclusion (or the lack thereof) in the legal profession, the impact of civics education and social media literacy on the legal system, and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in society.

Yunsan is the current President-Elect of the Knoxville Bar Association (KBA), having served in various committee and leadership roles, and will start his term as KBA President in December 2023. He was recently selected by National Conference of Board Presidents as one of ten 2023-2024 Diversity Scholars.  Yunsan is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law (TBALL) Class of 2019 and the Leadership Blount Class of 2017.

Professor Yunsan received his J.D. degree in 2013 from the University of Tennessee, where he was two-year member of the National Moot Court Competition Team and was inducted to the Order of Barristers.  He received, the 2013 James R. & Nell W. Cunningham Excellence in Legal Writing Award, the 2012 James R. & Nell W. Cunningham Legal Research Award, and the 2012 University of Tennessee College of Law Legal Brief Writing Award.

Before pursuing a career in law, he worked for eight years in public health, assisting local and state health departments with community development, health promotion, and strategic planning initiatives.  Yunsan earned a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and a dual master’s degree in Public Health and Nutrition Science, with a concentration in Health Planning and Administration, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which makes him a “Triple Vol.”

He and his wife, Paromita, have two children, Bella and Teo.

• Education & Experience
• Publications

J.D. (magna cum laude) 2013, University of Tennessee College of Law

M.S. – M.P.H., 2002, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

B.S., 1999, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Curriculum Vitae

E Pluribus Unum: One Immigrant’s Journey to Citizenship and the Legal Profession, Dicta (the official monthly publication of the Knoxville Bar Association), June 2021, at 31.

Step Into the Arena (Lest We Miss Out on Each Other), Dicta (the official monthly publication of the Knoxville Bar Association), Feb. 2021, at 10.