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by Brett Lieberman
For
Virginia Business
December,
2003
Growing
up in Roanoke in the ’60s and ’70s, Anthony
F. Anderson wanted to be Perry Mason. The courtroom
drama intrigued him, and he dreamed of being a tough
litigator defending the wrongly accused. Little did
he know that 95 percent of his case load would become
criminal defense work and that people would come to
associate his practice not with Perry Mason, but with
ethically challenged lawyers on shows such as “The
Practice.”
Anthony F. Anderson |
Whether
making headlines defending clients such as Roanoke physician
Cecil B. Knox III, who faced 69 counts of illegally
prescribing OxyContin, or Dennis Wayne Eaton, who got
the death penalty after killing a state trooper and
three others, it’s easy to see how such comparisons
might be made.
Criminal
defense work by its nature involves dealing with suspect
individuals. Even Anderson admits that many jurors and
the public at large think his clients are probably guilty
or they would not have been arrested. Still, his reputation
supersedes such doubts. “He’s got a lot of
what I would refer to as plain-spoken credibility,”
says Morgan E. Scott Jr., a U.S. attorney in Roanoke.
A strong litigator who is able to communicate well with
juries and judges, Anderson has earned the respect of
colleagues and adversaries such as Scott for putting
on a strong defense and serving his clients well even
against tough odds. “He doesn’t take any lay
downs,” Scott says. A recent example: Knox, the
Roanoke physician, was acquitted in late October of
30 counts, and a mistrial was declared on the remaining
39 counts.
Anderson
has handled seven death penalty cases in 22 years, and
the names and details of the cases remain fresh. For
instance, Eaton was convicted and put to death despite
Anderson’s arguments that the jury should have
been told Eaton had pled guilty to three life sentences
and had no chance for parole. His point was eventually
validated when the state Supreme Court in an unrelated
case endorsed his argument.
Representing
criminal defendants isn’t easy. Anderson’s
own mother called one morning in tears after friends
asked how her son could represent such “thugs.”
The key for Anderson is to remain focused on being able
to ethically represent clients, regardless of who they
are or the crimes they are charged with committing.
Everybody is entitled to a constitutional defense, he
says. Still, Anderson acknowledges, “you are going
to be associated with who you represent. People need
to know that you are not going to let a client commit
perjury.”
While
full of admirable intentions, Anderson, 48, initially
viewed the law as a means of getting rich and moving
beyond his blue-collar roots in the Williamson Road
neighborhood where his father still lives in the same
house. “The way to financial independence and wealth
meant you became a doctor or a lawyer,” he says.
At one point while studying at Roanoke College, Anderson
thought a legal career would pave the way to a career
in politics. Successful state politicians all seemed
to have legal backgrounds. While a law student at George
Mason University, he even became a registered lobbyist
advocating the school’s merger with the International
School of Law in Arlington.
Anderson
no longer harbors political ambitions, and enjoys the
career and autonomy he’s developed. He puts in
long hours, he says, but has the freedom of a solo practitioner
to do what he wants. Now that sounds like Perry Mason.
Return
to Virginia Business - December 2003
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