(1928 - 2017)
As a lawyer, Tom Anderson's accomplishments are barely believable in today's legal world. His strength was as a trial lawyer; he estimated he completed over a thousand jury trials. The sum of his lifetime verdicts earned for his clients was in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He was given the moniker "The Desert Fox" by his colleagues and it was rumored that a proposal to have him killed by an opposing insurance company's Board of Directors was defeated in a narrow vote. However, Tom was never motivated by money, he just wanted to attain justice for his clients.
Tom was a firebrand in his life, and as a lawyer he had cases all over the United States. He spent three years in South Carolina earning a $146 million verdict for hundreds of clients who had been defrauded by TV Evangelist Jim Bakker of The PTL Club in a time share scheme (although the verdict was never paid due to bankruptcy protections). He had a case in Arizona against Ozzie Osbourne for wrongful suicide arising out of Osbourne's album "Suicide Solution." He had a case representing state senator Bill Keith to demand the teaching of Creation Science in Kentucky Schools (which included a two-day deposition of Carl Sagan). And, of course, he was a legendary plaintiff's trial lawyer who was known to always meticulously prepare his cases for a jury trial, which he usually won.
Tom loved an adventure. He served as a spy during the Korean War, led an expedition to Noah's Ark in Turkey, and journeyed to conduct an archeological dig in Jerusalem looking for the Ark of the Covenant.
Tom was committed to his clients, admired by his colleagues, and feared by his opponents.
