Sandra J. Anderson
Columbus Office
Ms. Anderson is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the labor and employment group. Her civil litigation practice focuses on labor and employment, but has also included class action defense, commercial and contract law, personal injury defense, and defense of colleges and universities in state and federal court and at the trial and appellate levels. She has been retained as an expert witness in cases involving litigation tactics, ethical issues and disputes over legal fees.
Career highlights include:
- Serving on the National Trial Team for two corporate clients involved in the breast implant litigation
- Successfully defending a major state university in a trial involving a multi-million dollar wrongful death claim
- Appearing as defense counsel in numerous employment litigation matters in Ohio, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and North Dakota
- Gaining dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed in Ohio arising from a fatal fire in Canada; arguing the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the dismissal
- Election as first woman President of the Columbus Bar Association in 1996
- Appointment by Ohio Governor Strickland in May 2007 to a nine year term on the Board of Trustees of Ohio University
Ms. Anderson is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Foundation, the Ohio Women’s Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Foundation, and Women Lawyers of Franklin County.
Ms. Anderson has served on the faculties of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. She has also served as a visiting faculty member of the University of Michigan Law School and as an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and Capital University Law School. She has also appeared several times as a presenter at the Advocacy Institute and been a frequent speaker on ethics and professionalism, expert witnesses, mediation and tort law, opening statements and direct and cross examinations.
Ms. Anderson regularly serves as a mediator during Settlement Week for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Ms. Anderson received her J.D. magna cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law where she was the Notes and Comments Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review as well as a member of the Order of the Coif and the National Moot Court Team. She received her B.S.C. summa cum laude from the Ohio University.
Ms. Anderson clerked for The Honorable George Edwards on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1976 to 1977.
Professional and Community Activities
- Supreme Court of Ohio, Chair, Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, 2007
- Ohio State Bar Foundation, Board of Trustees, 2007-present
- Ohio State Bar Association, Council of Delegates, 1990-present
- Ohio State Bar Association, Board of Governors, Section on Women in the Profession, 1993-1998
- Ohio Women’s Bar Association, Board of Trustees, 1992-1993
- Columbus Bar Foundation, President, 2006-2007; Board of Trustees, 1998-present
- Columbus Bar Association, President, 1996-1997; Board of Governors, 1991-1998
- Columbus Law Library Association, Board of Trustees, 1996-present
- New Directions Career Center, Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, 2001-2007
- The Legacy Fund, Board of Trustees, 2005-present
- Life Success Seminars, Inc., Board of Trustees, 2007-present
- Ohio University, Board of Trustees, 2007-present
Honors and Awards
- Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1993
- Ohio Super Lawyers, General Litigation, 2004-2008
- Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Litigation: General Commercial, 2005-2008
- The Best Lawyers in America, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Commercial Litigation, Labor and Employment Law, and Personal Injury Litigation, 1995-2008
- The Best Lawyers in America, “Bet-the-Company” Litigation, 2008
- Ohio Women’s Bar Association’s Alice Robie Resnick Award of Distinction, 2004
- Fellow of the Columbus Bar Foundation since 1989
- Fellow of the Ohio State Bar Foundation since 1992