Editor's note: This version of the story has been changed to update the time of the memorial service

Roger Groot, who commanded equal respect in the classroom and the courtroom with his deep voice, piercing gaze and seemingly infinite knowledge of the law, died of a heart attack Saturday while hunting.

He was 63.

As someone who taught criminal law at Washington and Lee University while practicing it in courtrooms across Virginia, Groot was instrumental in molding both the participants and the outcomes of the state's judicial system.

Well-known for his work directing the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, a student-staffed resource center for defense attorneys, Groot was asked in 2002 to assist in the defense of Lee Boyd Malvo, one of the two defendants in the Washington-area sniper shootings.

He also represented some capital murder defendants himself, including Peter Odighizuwa, a former law student convicted of killing three people at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy.

At the time of Groot's death, none of his clients had been sent to death row -- something colleagues said he would have been proud of.

An ardent opponent of the death penalty, Groot was willing to step beyond the pristine confines of the classroom and "into the give and take of the courtroom to try to save people from what he considered to be unfair punishment," said Roanoke attorney Stan Barnhill, a former student of Groot's.

Even in cases in which he was not counsel of record, Groot's influence could be found in the motions and briefs that his clearinghouse helped defense lawyers draft.

When he did make a personal appearance, it was often memorable.

"It was kind of like going in to court with a bulldog," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Giorno, who faced off with Groot in a murder case earlier this year. "He grabbed a hold of the issue, and if the issue happened to be attached to your leg, he would grab a hold of that, too."

Behind the passion was "probably the greatest legal mind that I have ever had the opportunity to work with," said Jimmy Turk, a Radford lawyer who teamed up with Groot in the Odighizuwa case.

Groot the professor could be as demanding of his students as he was of himself.

As he surveyed the classroom through round eyeglasses, "you felt like no matter how far back in the room you were, when he focused on you, you could have been two inches from his nose," said Victor Cardwell, a Roanoke attorney and a former student.

Students who neglected the required reading would skip class rather than face the professor's wrath. And even those who thought they knew the material would often leave the classroom in what Barnhill called a state of "intellectual vertigo."

It was known on campus as being "Grootinized," Cardwell said. But most students saw past the professor's gruff exterior.

Years after having someone in his classroom, Groot would recognize them in public. "He would ask you how the practice was going, and you could tell he wasn't just asking," Cardwell said. "He really cared."

A native of Mount Vernon, Wash., Groot graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Russian. He joined the Marines and served in Vietnam before earning a law degree from University of North Carolina.

Groot joined W&L's law school in 1973, teaching criminal law and procedure. He was on leave at the time of his death, having just completed a capital case that ended with a life sentence for his defendant.

"Roger Groot was a lion in so many ways -- as a lawyer, a teacher, a scholar, a community leader, an outdoorsman and a family man," said David Partlett, dean of W&L's law school.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in Lee Chapel on the W&L campus.