The Legal Elite
Top Litigation Lawyer
James C. Roberts
Mays & Valentine

by Lisa Antonelli Bacon

Working from his corner office at Mays & Valentine in downtown Richmond where he has practiced for more than 40 years, James C. Roberts represents many of the company names that make national news every day. He’s plotted legal strategies for such corporate powerhouses as Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Virginia Power. Twenty years ago, he oversaw the bankruptcy proceedings for Richmond-based pharmaceutical firm A.H. Robins after safety concerns about its Dalkon Shield contraceptive device soured the public on the company. Now, he’s guiding AT&T through the twists and turns of the still-evolving field of information technology litigation.

But Roberts isn’t just the premier litigator for high-dollar corporations. In 1997, when Sen. Richard J. Holland (D-Isle of Wight) faced 31 criminal fraud-related counts of "everything under the sun related to a family-owned bank," Roberts, effectively batted away the charges like they were bothersome gnats. The prosecution took a full eight days to put on its case. After Roberts’ defense, which lasted just a fraction of that time, the judge granted Roberts’ motion to strike the evidence on the basis that a reasonable juror could not convict. "Basically, the judge said that the government’s smoking gun was all smoke and no gun," he recalls.

In a profession that, by its very nature, assumes one side or the other is lying, Roberts stands out among his peers for honesty and integrity. Thomas Slater, Hunton & Williams’ ace litigator, says that Roberts has long set the standard "for the way lawyers should conduct themselves, in and out of court." Over the past 30 years, Slater has faced off with Roberts in the courtroom and shared counsel tables with him as well. "As a lawyer, he really prepares. He knows his case inside out, the facts and the law." Roberts isn’t wily, doesn’t rely on surprises or tactics. Says Slater, "His word is his bond. I wish all lawyers measured up to what he is and what he does. Our profession would have a lot higher standing."

There’s no magic to his litigation, according to Roberts. "I just try to deal with the case honestly, with intellectual integrity. And I deal with people on an equal basis. You have to think like [jurors] think. Some are of high station; some are not. But you have to view them all as people."

When Roberts began practicing law in 1957, before the age of legal specialization, lawyers performed whatever legal services their clients needed. Twenty or so years later, when it was becoming commonplace for lawyers to develop a specific expertise, Roberts already had mastered many areas of the law. Even now, while younger colleagues intensify and hone their focus and expertise, Virginia’s lead litigator is among America’s top attorneys in four areas of specialization. "Best Lawyers in America," a book published annually by Woodward/White in South Carolina, polls attorneys across the country to determine whom among their colleagues is "the best." Since it issued its first book in 1983, Roberts has been listed every year as one of America’s best in corporate law, business litigation, criminal defense, and personal injury litigation.

Folding a rangy six-feet-plus into a blue leather office chair, Roberts admits that his practice never leaves enough time for his boat or his three grandchildren. There are other obligations, too. As a lobbyist, he’s influenced Virginia legislation and then tried cases using laws he’s helped draft for more than 30 years. He’s sacrificed some good fishing weather to serve as substitute judge in Henrico County. And somehow he’s wedged a lengthy list of community and charitable causes into his calendar. In addition to serving as president of the Richmond Bar and the Virginia State Bar, he has served on the boards of any number of associations, including the board of trustees of the University of Richmond, which named its law library for him this year.

Roberts is known around the firm to be as selfless with his time teaching associates as he is when he’s billing hours. His teaching style — like his unspecialized caseload, his high standard of integrity, and his ethics — is old school.

"When I came to the firm in 1957," he says, "you learned by being tossed into the pond." Roberts applies those same lessons when he mentors young attorneys. "I try to get them on their feet by themselves as quickly as possible. … I tried my first jury case by myself less than a month after I started. You don’t see that today. I learned how to lose on my very first case."

Virginia Business - December 2000