Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson (born August 27, 1947) is an American personal injury attorney and leads Jeff Anderson & Associates PA with headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for litigating cases involving child sexual abuse by the Catholic Clergy beginning in the 1980s; and using media events to both advance his career and to encourage child sexual abuse victims to speak out. Personal life Anderson was born on August 27, 1947, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Raised in suburban Edina, his mother stayed at home while his father worked as a furniture salesman for Dayton's department store. He married Julie Aronson in 1987. His children were raised in the Roman Catholic faith, although Anderson became an atheist in the 1980s while he worked with legal cases involving sexual abuse. He returned to organized religion in the 1990s, and also attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at that time. Career Jeff Anderson founded Jeff Anderson & Associates in November 1981. At the time, the firm focused on cases related to civil rights and poverty law. In 1983, Anderson became a defense attorney for Greg Riedle, a minor who had been convicted of molesting a younger child. Riedle informed his parents he had learned his behavior from being sexually abused by Rev. Thomas Adamson while serving as an altar boy at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in St. Paul Park, Minnesota. Previous to hiring Anderson, the Riedles had informed their bishop of their son's allegations. Finding the bishop's response inadequate, the Riedles approached Anderson.