Obituary of Anthony C. Roth

Anthony C. Roth died at home in Alexandria, Virginia on September 7, 2014, following a four year battle with metastatic colon cancer. Anthony was born on September 9, 1957 in Goshen, Indiana. He received his BA at Goshen College and his JD at the University of Notre Dame Law School. After graduation, he clerked for Justice James L. Ryan of the Michigan Supreme Court and for Chief Judge Pierce Lively of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In 1985, he moved to Washington, DC as an Honors Program lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, where he received the Civil Division Special Award for Superior Performance. In 1987, Anthony joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he became a partner in the Litigation and Intellectual Property practice groups. He represented diverse American and international corporations, individuals and federal government agencies at all levels of the federal courts system. He specialized in cases containing complex legal, factual, engineering, and damages issues related to patents for medical devices, semiconductors and other high tech products. As defense counsel for his clients, Anthony defeated more than $1 billion of patent, trade secret, and contract claims. In his role as plaintiff’s counsel, he tried cases resulting in multi-million dollar awards for his clients. In addition to his great skill as a litigator, Anthony took special pride in developing and orchestrating creative and effective solutions to his clients’ disputes that allowed them to protect their business interests and rights without incurring the crushing expense of litigation. He worked hard to build constructive professional and personal relationships with scores of clients, opposing counsel, witnesses, and court personnel. Anthony was committed to the training and mentoring of young associates at his firm. Throughout his career, Anthony devoted much energy to the representation of pro bono clients. He successfully represented some of the first parents to seek damages under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. In 1989, he became involved in representing a client on death row in Texas. Anthony was instrumental in obtaining seven stays of execution. He worked tirelessly to reverse what he believed was a failure of the judicial system resulting in a gross travesty of justice. For his efforts in this case, Anthony received his firm’s Julie Noel Gilbert Award for Pro Bono Excellence. Even though his illness forced him to stop actively practicing law in 2011, Anthony remained involved in the representation of this client and visited him at the prison for the last time in July. Until his death, Anthony also continued his board membership in Environic Foundation International, an organization devoted to educating businesses and communities in innovative ways to sustain their natural resources. Anthony was passionately devoted to his family, especially his two boys. He selected their names, was present at their births, and was a hands-on father in every aspect of their upbringing. Though he regularly worked 60-80 hours a week, he structured that work as much as possible around his boys’ schedules. Anthony had extensive interests: swimming, bike riding, skiing, scuba diving, photography, history, collecting stamps and coins, designing jewelry, playing basketball, attending professional baseball and soccer games, and tinkering with his antique cars. He was an avid gardener who found great peace with his hands in the dirt, helping things to grow and be beautiful. Anthony pursued knowledge constantly through reading, traveling, and new experiences. Some of his closest friends were people whose experiences and views of the world were at opposite ends of the spectrum from his own. Anthony involved his sons in all of these pursuits, helping them to develop skills and interests that will inform and enrich their lives forever. Anthony’s great faith in God sustained him during his life, but most especially in the past four years as he fought to be well and as he finally acknowledged that there was nothing more he could do in this world. Anthony attempted to live his life according to the exhortation to “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.” Micah 6:8 Anthony is survived by his wife of nearly 37 years, Deena; sons Keegan (24) and Carraig (19); parents Arnold and Lucille Roth (Goshen, Indiana); brother Peter Roth (Bloomington, Illinois); sisters Barbara Horst (Oakland, California) and Cheryl Kauffman Snyder (Goshen, Indiana); many in-laws, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles; and countless friends. He was preceded in death by an infant brother, Loren Roth. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on October 4, 2014 at Washington Community Fellowship, 907 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington, DC. Anthony asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in his memory to: Mercy Health Foundation, 301 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, where all gifts in Anthony’s name will go to support the research his surgeon is conducting, http://mdmercy.com/centers-of-excellence/cancer/treatments-we-offer/surgical-oncology/our-doctors/armando-sardi-md?sc_lang=en, or to Environic Foundation International, 12035 Stonewick Place, Glen Allen, VA 23059, www.environicfoundation.org, where contributions will be used for EFI’s internship program.