An Ashland native born in 1930, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Ellis followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer, earning a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Washington and Lee University. Fluent in French, Mr. Ellis served his country in the United States Army Judge Advocate Corps stationed in France from 1953 to 1955. After his time in the military, Mr. Ellis began practicing law in Ashland and soon became a partner in the law firm of Campbell, Ellis, and Campbell, where he practiced general law until 1970.

During this time, Mr. Ellis served as a member of the Ashland Town Council, as Mayor from 1958 to 1963, and as commonwealth’s attorney for Hanover County from 1963 to 1970. He became county attorney for Hanover County in 1970. During his days as a county attorney in Hanover, Mr. Ellis oversaw the formation of the Economic Development Authority of Hanover County and was its original counsel. Also in 1970, he joined the Richmond law firm of Mays & Valentine, L.L.P. and was the father of its municipal finance practice group.

As head of the Mays & Valentine Litigation Department, he fielded calls for help from the firm’s business lawyers and made sure that young lawyers were trained by more senior ones. He was described as a great teacher and mentor of young litigators, giving them significant roles in cases and as much responsibility as they could handle as quickly as possible. He enjoyed this aspect of his practice and taught young lawyers how to handle the ups and downs of high- pressure litigation.

His colleagues heralded Mr. Ellis as one of the best state court trial lawyers they had ever seen. He valued working ahead, was highly intelligent, straight talking, and a totally transparent person who made good decisions quickly and without fanfare. He was organized and calm as well as knowledgeable. Trials were fun for him, writing down on a legal pad what had to be proven and listing just how he would proceed. Apparently judges and juries loved his direct, uncomplicated questions and straightforward “country lawyer” presentation of his case. Mr. Ellis knew how to prepare and try a case so that the average person — his former constituents — could follow it to conclusion. He never uttered a wasted phrase or unimportant sentence.

One colleague reminisced: “One of the first cases I ever worked on was for Jack. His client was a Hanover deputy accused of manslaughter (I think). The deputy was chasing a suspect, who exited his car and ran across a field. He was about 100 yards from the deputy, running away from the deputy. The deputy pulled out his pistol and shot the guy multiple times in the back, all in the kill zone. Jack didn't think self-defense would get very far so he sent me off to the library to research something called ‘death by misadventure.’ He turned my research into a jury instruction and got an acquittal.”

Many colleagues recollected that it was truly remarkable that he always completed all pleadings, and in fact all tasks, well before they were due so there was never any sense of urgency or panic. In everything he did, including having lunch each day at noon, both during the week and on weekends, he was always punctual. With a secretary seated across his desk he dictated letters long and short in complete sentences and ready for signature.

Mr. Ellis was regarded as the consummate Virginia gentleman. The reception desk on the 23rd floor was only a few feet away from his office. He was known to rarely close his door and kept his desk uncluttered and clean. He never wore anything but a white shirt, and he never left his office or the floor without his suit jacket. Never hurried or brash, he always had time to speak to the receptionists and was gracious to clients, to staff, and to lawyers in the firm who were of less stature than he.

He was well known for a wonderful sense of humor and a propensity for pranks. One lawyer recalled assisting Mr. Ellis in the defense of an individual who allegedly stabbed his wife seven times resulting in her death. “Jack sent me a memo instructing me to inspect the corpse to see if I could drum up any mitigating evidence. As I recall, I was about out the door when his grin revealed that I was the butt of another one of his practical jokes. For Jack, practical jokes were a way of promoting camaraderie and displaying affection, which, as a young insecure lawyer, I very much appreciated.”

Following his retirement from Mays & Valentine in 1996 he served as an interim judge for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit of Virginia, continuing in that position until 1998. From 1998 until shortly before his death he served as a substitute judge for the Juvenile Court, as well as for the General District Court.

His professional associations included the Hanover County Bar (past president), the Richmond Bar Association, the Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, American Judicature Society, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, American College of Trial Lawyers (Fellow), and the Virginia Law Foundation (Fellow).

His civic involvements included the Ashland Chamber of Commerce (past president), Capitol Region Advisory Board, First & Merchants National Bank, and Nations Bank. He was a member of the Ashland Kiwanis Club, the Board of Trustees of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, the Sons of the American Revolution, and of Fork Episcopal Church in Doswell.

He loved his cattle farm, Broomfield Farm in Beaverdam, and all its requirements and chores. His outdoor love was bird hunting and he pursued it with great passion with his prize-winning bird dogs.

Mr. Ellis died October 12, 2008 at the age of 78. Through House Joint Resolution No. 659, offered by Delegate Frank Hargrove of Hanover County in January 2009, the House of Delegates, with the Senate concurring, celebrated the life of the Honorable Andrew Jackson Ellis, Jr. and mourned “the passing of a fine jurist and outstanding Virginian.”