Menu

Our clients and prospects appreciate our commitment to exceptional responsiveness — 866.983.0866

Anthony M. Russell

Partner
Legal Assistant
Donna Jones540.983.9321
Paralegal
Jenny Arthur540.983.9463
vCard Team Members

Tony Russell helps people who have been hurt by the carelessness of others. Tony was raised by his mother and grandparents. While he was growing up, he watched people suffer injustice because they lacked the means to protect themselves or fight back. Tony found his calling as a lawyer and dedicated himself to making a difference in their lives. Tony’s intense dedication to pursuing justice for victims includes extensive investigation and research. He believes the law should exist to help make victims whole and  to protect others from becoming victims. 

Tony is a Partner in the firm and is consistently noted as a Virginia Super Lawyer in Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Litigation for plaintiffs. He also is recognized among the Best Lawyers in America in several categories for plaintiffs, including Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury and Product Liability Litigation, and in 2016 was named the “Roanoke Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs.

  • Years at the firm
  • Centenarian grandparents
  • Dogs I’ve fostered or rescued
  • Why are you so passionate about your work?

    Being a lawyer is not just what I do, it is who I am. Almost every day growing up I saw individuals, especially those without a voice (like children, the sick, the elderly, and animals) suffer injustice because they lacked the means to protect themselves or fight back. I realized the way that I could help them was to become a lawyer and fight for them. It hurts when I hear people say “I am not the type of person who sues” or I hear arguments for tort reform. Without lawsuits against the careless, they will never be deterred from acting carelessly, and personal responsibility is destroyed because those responsible for the harm will not pay for it. I know how vital it is to be in the legal arena fighting for victims’ justice and I will do so as long as I live.

  • What’s an important life lesson for you?

    I think President Theodore Roosevelt said it best. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Education

  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D. 1999
  • University of Virginia, B.A. with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, 1996

Experience

  • Represented numerous plaintiffs before the Supreme Court of Virginia including Sawyer v. Comerci, Monahan v. Obici Medical Management Servs., Inc., May v. Caruso, Taboada v. Daily Seven, and Rascher v. Friend
  • Represented four plaintiffs in obtaining a recovery of $7,500,000
  • Represented many plaintiffs in obtaining recoveries of $1,000,000 or more
  • Represented many plaintiffs in obtaining recoveries of $500,000 or more
  • Represented numerous plaintiffs in cases that received media publicity including Terry v. Harron ($700,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case); Swanson v. Carilion ($1,000,000 settlement); Shumate v. Meincke ($1,300,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case); Neaves v. Sugerman ($250,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case); Andrews v. Gray (confidential settlement in a medical malpractice case involving wrong site surgery that was resolved as the jury was deliberating); Shupe v. Carilion Healthcare Corporation ($2,000,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case)
  • Represented plaintiffs in state courts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia including Wise County, Smyth County, Washington County, Giles County, Montgomery County, Radford, Danville, Martinsville, Roanoke, Roanoke County, Salem, Botetourt County, Alleghany County, Richmond, Suffolk, Norfolk, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Augusta County, Rockingham County, Charlottesville, Greene County, Arlington, Lynchburg, Rockbridge County, Buena Vista, Tazewell County, Russell County, Bedford County, Bristol, Campbell County, Carroll County, Dickenson County, Fairfax, Franklin County, Grayson County, Halifax, Hampton, Henrico County, Henry County, Lee County, Prince William County, Pulaski County, Radford, Scott County
  • Tried over fifty jury trials in state courts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia from as far west as Scott County, Virginia, to as far east as Norfolk, Virginia, to as far north as Alexandria, Virginia, and to as far south as Danville, Virginia
  • Represented plaintiffs in federal courts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia including the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, Big Stone Gap Division, and Abingdon Division, as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division and Richmond Division
  • Tried several jury trials in federal courts including the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, Big Stone Gap Division, and Abingdon Division
  • Represented plaintiffs in over fifty mediations
  • Represented plaintiffs in over ten arbitrations
  • Represented plaintiffs in cases pending in courts in North Carolina and Tennessee
  • Represented plaintiffs in cases involving medical malpractice, wrongful death, legal malpractice, product liability, dog attacks, car accidents, defamation (slander and libel), veterinary malpractice, assault and battery, pedestrian accidents, contract disputes, employment disputes, tractor trailer accidents, dental malpractice, nursing home malpractice/abuse
  • Participated in several continuing legal education courses including as a presenter and preparing written materials

Affiliations

  • Member, American Board of Trial Advocates (2009-Present)
  • Member, American Association of Justice
  • Member, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
  • Member, Virginia State Bar
  • Member, Roanoke Bar Association
  • Member, Etheridge Society (2009-Present)

Awards

  • Named one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the areas of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs, Medical Malpractice – Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2013-2016), and Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs (2016), also listed in Best Lawyers in America – Business Edition (2016)
  • Designated as a National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 (2012) 
  • Recipient, Client Distinction Award, Martindale-Hubbell (2012)
  • Named a Top Rated Lawyer for Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, and Legal Malpractice law by American Lawyer Media (2013)
  • Named to the Blue Ridge Business Journal’s “20 Under 40 List” of the Blue Ridge Region’s up-and-coming business leaders (2010)
  • Barrister, The Ted Dalton American Inn of Court (2009-2012) and Associate (2007-2010)
  • Elected to Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice: Plaintiffs in Super Lawyers magazine (2016; Rising Star 2007, 2009-2015)
  • Roanoke Bar Association Volunteer Service Award for 25+ hours of pro bono & community service (2000-2006)
  • Designated one of the Legal Elite in the Young Lawyer (2010) and Legal Services/Pro Bono category (2006) by Virginia Business magazine
  • Pro-Bono of the Year Award, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Inc. (2004-2005)
  • Rated AV/Preeminent

Published Work