Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502270039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., a Salem judge who sits on the Virginia Court of Appeals, knows what it's like to be so close to something you can taste it, and then have it slip away.
It's happened to him before - once about 12 years ago when he was up for Circuit Court judgeship, and again in 1987 when he was being considered for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
But he took those disappointments in stride.
"Sometimes it's your time, and sometimes it's not," Koontz said Friday.
Now is Koontz's time.
The General Assembly voted Saturday to appoint Koontz, 55, to the Virginia Supreme Court to replace Justice Henry Whiting, who will retire in June.
Hampton Circuit Judge Nelson T. Overton will replace Koontz on the appeals court.
In an uncanny coincidence - which Koontz's wife, Eberle Smith, calls "amazing" - the seat Koontz has been appointed to fill is the same one he vied for in 1987.
Whiting was appointed to the state's highest court as a compromise candidate eight years ago, when Roanoke-area legislators couldn't reach an agreement. Two delegates favored Koontz and two favored another choice, then-Roanoke Circuit Judge Jack Coulter. To settle matters, the lawmakers flipped a coin.
Koontz won the coin toss, but the Roanoke Valley's two state senators didn't agree with the method or the choice.
The result: gridlock, then compromise.
Koontz, who was the favored candidate, continued as an appellate judge, and Whiting became a Supreme Court justice.
"That was a hard time for him," his wife said. "I kept telling him over and over that at some point he would have a spot on the Supreme Court of Virginia."
Although Koontz, who was born and raised in Roanoke, said as a young lawyer he never aspired to sit on the Supreme Court, he admits that in recent years he never put the possibility completely out of his mind.
"It was never a moot point with him," his wife said.
Nor was it with Roanoke-area lawyers.
"He had received calls since the split decision from lawyers saying, `Next time there is an open seat, try again,'''Smith said.
Charles Williams, president of the Roanoke Bar Association, admits he was one of those callers.
"I and other lawyers in this area immediately stepped forward and urged him to do this. What happened before had nothing to do with his qualifications," Williams said.
Koontz began his judiciary career in 1967 as a Salem Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge. He was there for nine years before moving on to the Circuit Court. And in 1985 he became one of Virginia's first Court of Appeals judges. He will continue there until June.
"He has tagged every judicial base in the state of Virginia," Williams said.
But Koontz said it was his work as an appellate court judge that readied him for the high court.
"I've been very blessed. I've genuinely enjoyed what I was doing in each court, but if there's such a thing as being in training for the Supreme Court that's what I've been doing for the past 11 years," Koontz said.
And he's been garnering support, more support than anyone could imagine.
Koontz got endorsements from all six state bar associations, plus the support of local bar associations everywhere from Fairfax to Wythe County.
"I've never seen a candidate get so much support," Williams said.
Koontz, a graduate of Virginia Tech and the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, will be the only justice from the Roanoke Valley or Southwest Virginia.
But being in the minority is something Koontz is used to: He was the only representative from Southwest Virginia on the Court of Appeals.
"My values are deeply rooted in the Roanoke Valley, and I'll take that point of view with me to the Supreme Court. I think it is an important viewpoint to bring, and I certainly hope that, if not in this session, then certainly in the near future, the General Assembly will appoint someone from this area" to the Court of Appeals, Koontz said.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB