Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1969, Bob Andersen worked as a VISTA lawyer with Wisconsin Judicare when it was located in Madison.

At Wisconsin Judicare, Bob represented the Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council and its 10 member tribes. Bob wrote the brief for the first successful circuit court case that established the right of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indian bands to hunt and fish under federal treaty and free of state regulation.