Garrett Anderson

My Story 

I was born and raised right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. I grew up going to the State Fair and traveling between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Outer Banks, but I craved the opportunity to learn more about the world outside of North Carolina. I decided to move to Maine for my undergraduate education, where I studied Japanese at Bates College.

After Maine I moved to Japan, where I worked at the Aomori Prefectural Bureau of Tourism as a Coordinator for International Relations. I worked on translation, interpretation, and consulting projects with the aim of making the area more welcoming to English-speaking tourists. All of that would be put on pause, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic I rewrote my position’s duties and began to focus on spreading English-language information about COVID-19 countermeasures in my region. Although English-language support was common in larger metropolitan areas like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, there was next to none in the remote, rural area of Aomori where I lived. This experience showed me I had a passion for using my communication and advocacy skills, empowering others to make decisions in their own best interests.

As the threat of COVID-19 ebbed, I returned to North Carolina to pursue law and continue serving others. I attended Campbell Law School where I worked for several criminal justice initiatives and law firms, including:

• The North Carolina Innocence Project: Working to exonerate the wrongfully convicted.

• The Center for Death Penalty Litigation: Assisting in high-stakes capital defense.

• The Office of the Federal Public Defender: Gaining insight into federal criminal procedure (Eastern District of NC).

• The Campbell Law School Restorative Justice Clinic: Focusing on rehabilitation and resolution.

After graduation from Campbell Law in the Spring of 2025 and passing the July 2025 bar exam, I joined Marcilliat & Mills, PLLC as a private criminal defense attorney, where I continue to serve to this day. As a defense attorney, I work with a range of clients facing criminal charges from drug offenses, simple assault, assault with a weapon, theft offenses, domestic violence issues and stalking to communicating threats and more.

I am passionate about defending your rights and empowering you so your voice can be heard while facing criminal charges in North Carolina. I will work closely with you, learn about your story, and advocate zealously on your behalf. I understand the consequences that facing criminal charges or being convicted of a crime can bring, and I will fight to get the best possible outcome in your case.