A brief timeline of Jeffrey Anderson's life and career
St. Paul attorney Jeffrey Anderson has undertaken a 30-year legal campaign against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, and the church leaders he has accused of covering up the scandal. Here's a look at some key moments in his life.
1947: Jeffrey Anderson born in Minneapolis, son of a Dayton's furniture salesman and homemaker.
1965: Graduates from Edina High School and goes to Simpson College in Iowa.
1966: Marries for the first time, converts to Catholicism. Drops out of college. First of six children born a year later.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
1971: Graduates from the University of Minnesota.
1975: Earns his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.
1979: He and his first wife divorce.
1983: Takes first sexual abuse case in St. Paul.
1987: Marries again, to current wife Julie.
1990: Jury in Anoka County awards more than $3.5 million to Anderson's client, a 24-year-old man who sued Catholic officials saying he was abused by Rev. Thomas Adamson, as a child in Columbia Heights. The jury found the church failed to remove Adamson despite knowing his history of abusing boys.
1991: Files first sex abuse lawsuit ever against a Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.
1992: Takes a high-profile role in the sexual abuse case against former priest James Porter, in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
2002: With help from documents revealed in the Boston clergy abuse scandal, Anderson begins nationwide pursuit of church records to document abuse in other places.
June 2002: Files suit against St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., on behalf of two men who claimed they were abused by two monks while attending St. John's Preparatory Academy. The suit is settled in October 2002.
August 2006: Files suit on behalf of the family of Daniel O'Connell of Hudson, Wis., who was believed to have been killed by a Roman Catholic priest in 2004, against nearly 200 bishops and other church officials asking them to disclose the names of abusive priests. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in late 2007.
2010: Obtains documents indicating abuse by clergy is occurring internationally, and that Pope Benedict may have played a more active role in handling such cases before he became pope.
