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by
Brett Lieberman
For
Virginia Business
December,
2003
James
Roberts’ case load would make many lawyers tremble.
He’s lead counsel defending Microsoft Corp. in
a patent infringement case that — should the software
giant lose — could result in millions of dollars
in damages. Closer to home, he’s defending a priest
facing a $5.3 million suit alleging the sexual abuse
of a student 30 years ago at St. John Vianney Seminary
in Goochland County. Plus, Roberts is preparing for
Dominion Virginia Power’s rate case before the
State Corporation Commission — the largest proposed
fuel factor rate increase in the company’s history.
James Roberts |
In
an era when specialties and niche practices dominate
the practice of law, the 71-year-old Roberts has become
not only one of the commonwealth’s premier litigators,
but has done so while remaining a generalist. “I
do pretty much everything that comes along,” he
says.
While many general practice lawyers perform whatever
work walks through the door, they often don’t do
everything well. Yet Roberts has consistently been rated
in “Best Lawyers in America” — a book
that surveys lawyers across the country — as one
of the top attorneys in business litigation, corporate
law, criminal defense and personal injury litigation.
The
Microsoft trial is among the most complex cases he’s
handled, requiring travel to dozens of states, thousands
of pages of depositions and technical details only a
computer programmer could appreciate. But Roberts, with
the Richmond firm of Troutman Sanders, is hardly a stranger
to tough cases. He steered A.H. Robbins through bankruptcy
proceedings 20 years ago after safety concerns over
the Richmond pharmaceutical firm’s Dalkon Shield
contraceptive. He’s also plotted strategies for
the company now known as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
and AT&T, not to mention successfully defending
the late Sen. Richard J. Holland (D-Isle of Wight) against
31 counts of fraud in 1997.
It’s
been a long, fun journey for Roberts since he graduated
first in his law school class at the University of Richmond
in 1957 and landed a job that paid $250 a month. “I’m
still not too old that I don’t learn something
with each case,” he says. Key to his 46 years of
success, say colleagues, is his integrity and an unwavering
work ethic than keeps him working long after many of
his counterparts would have retired to the golf course.
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Roberts’ skills
is the number of lawyers and judges who have sought
his representation. “When a lawyer calls on you
or a judge calls on you, it’s the extreme compliment,”
says former client and fellow litigator Murray J. Janus
of Bremner, Janus, Cook & Marcus in Richmond.
When
he does have a chance to get away, the former Hampden-Sydney
College football player can often be found relaxing
on his 34-foot, sport-fishing boat on the Chesapeake
Bay or down at the track rooting for his favorite NASCAR
drivers, where the competition can be as fierce as in
a courtroom.
Return
to Virginia Business - December 2003
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