Attorney Malcolm Anthony recently celebrated his 40th year practicing law during a dinner with friends at the Veranda near his office, which is located at 814 A1A North, suite 105, Ponte Vedra Beach.
The gathering offered Anthony and his guests an opportunity to reflect on his career as a criminal defense lawyer, a career that began as a kind of lark.
Anthony was attending Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as an undergraduate pursuing a degree in physical education when his roommate — himself planning a career in the law — urged him to take a practice Law School Admission Test.
Anthony did so and got a perfect score, which inspired him to sit for the actual LSAT.
His performance on that test combined with his good grades ultimately got him into law school, which at the time was also at Oral Roberts University but was later transferred to Regent University.
Throughout his years in law school, he worked full time teaching six undergraduate courses per semester.
Anthony began his career on Nov. 30, 1983, working alternately as a prosecutor and for various firms.
Then, against the advice of others who believed law firms could only succeed when located in a larger city, he opened his own practice in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Like so many who have worked hard to establish and maintain their own careers, Anthony didn’t always find the road to success easy. For instance, he applied for judgeships six times, but despite personally knowing the last three governors, his case never made it out of committee to be considered.
Still, he has found his career fulfilling because he is changing lives. In fact, he’s gotten numerous clients who were struggling with addiction into rehab.
“I meet people at their nadir; they’re at the bottom,” Anthony explained. “Their liberty is at stake or their life is at stake, or their career or their reputation. And I meet them at that moment they’re very much in need, and it is fulfilling for me to bring them out of that, set them on a new level and be there for them when they need me to make it right.”
Anthony is capable of handling anything from traffic infractions to murder in the first degree, though the most common case involves charges of DUI.
To counter the negative stereotype of defense attorneys perpetuated by Hollywood, he often finds it necessary to “put on his white hat” and disarm a jury by explaining the importance of his mission, saying that he is, in fact, in law enforcement — though not in the manner of a police officer.
“I enforce the highest law, the Constitution, the principles that made this nation great,” he says. “The right to trial by jury, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt — that’s the law I enforce.”
It’s a critical role, one that Anthony has filled for much of his long career.
To learn more about Anthony’s work, go to malcolmanthony.com. He can be reached at 904-285-4LAW.
