Don Laws is an American figure skater

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

 and coach.

As a competitive skater, he was a U.S. junior champion in single skating and ice dancing, as well as a World Team member

World Figure Skating Championships

The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...

. He was coached by Osborne Colson

Osborne Colson

Osborne "Ozzie" Colson was a Canadian figure skater and coach.Colson was born in Toronto, Ontario on March 31, 1916. His father was one of the founders of the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. He won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in 1936 and 1937. He trained with Gus Lussi...

.

After retiring from competitive skating, Laws became a coach. Among his current and former students are Scott Hamilton

Scott Hamilton (figure skater)

Scott Scovell Hamilton is an American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. He won four consecutive U.S. championships , four consecutive World Championships and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics....

, Michael Weiss

Michael Weiss (figure skater)

-External links:* - Official website* - US Olympic Committee Biography...

, and Patrick Chan

Patrick Chan

Patrick Chan is a Canadian figure skater.He is the 2011 World Champion, 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2009 Four Continents champion, the 2009 and 2010 World silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior silver medalist and a four-time Canadian Champion.At the 2010 Canadian Championships, he...

.

Laws was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame

United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame

The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored. To be inducted into the Hall of Fame is considered the highest achievement an...

 in 2001. In 2005 he received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Michael Weiss Foundation.

Laws was one of the Americans who help create the ISU Judging System

ISU Judging System

The ISU Judging System , is the scoring system on the event and on the level of competition. At the senior international level, single and pairs short programs contain eight technical elements. The actual eight elements are detailed for single skaters in ISU rule 310...

, which replaced the old 6.0 scoring system in 2004.

He is a former president of the Professional Skaters Association and a Lifetime Achievement
Honorary Member of that association. He has served on the International Skating Union

International Skating Union

The International Skating Union is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Netherlands in 1892, making it one of the oldest international...

's Singles and Pairs Committee.