Support NeoGAF

[Dalek]

O.J.’s last defender — F. Lee Bailey — is broke, disbarred and working above a hair salon

Johnnie Cochran is dead.

Marcia Clark writes murder mysteries.

Judge Lance Ito is retired.

Kato Kaelin tweets a lot.

And F. Lee Bailey, the famed criminal defense attorney, is flat broke.

On Thursday, O.J. Simpson — the NFL icon who brought them together more than two decades ago — was granted parole from his prison sentence for a Nevada robbery conviction, asserting during a highly anticipated hearing that “I’m not a guy who has lived a criminal life.”

But of all the characters who played a role in Simpson’s unforgettable acquittal for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, no one’s life has changed as dramatically as Bailey’s.

By changed, we mean cratered.

Bailey joined Simpson’s defense team with a courtroom résumé that even Perry Mason would be jealous of. Bailey got neurosurgeon Sam Sheppard a new trial on charges he brutally killed his wife — and a not-guilty verdict. He defended fugitive newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, the “Boston Strangler” and scores of other accused murderers. He was rich, flew on private jets and even played himself in a movie.

Today he lives with a hairstylist in Maine. At 83, he works above her salon.

“I won’t say it’s depressing, because I don’t think I ever get depressed,” Bailey told writer Andrew Goldman in a remarkable profile this month in Town & Country magazine.

The story details Bailey’s life post-O.J. — not just his remarkable fall but also his steadfast belief that a Los Angeles jury reached the correct verdict in acquitting the actor and Hertz pitchman of killing Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer.

Here’s what he had left: a 1999 Mercedes station wagon (gold, of course).

Unable to practice law, Bailey runs a consulting business above the salon. His office is decorated with models of jets he once owned. But to the fine people of Yarmouth, Maine, Bailey is still famous, a courtroom legend in their midst.

The Town & Country writer had lunch there with Bailey, who ordered a pinot grigio:

Next to him sits Debbie Elliot, his girlfriend of seven years. “A pretty good-looking 62,” he remarks, an accurate assessment of the curvaceous salon owner, who is dressed in head-to-toe black, her platinum blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Bailey, who in the 1970s wore sideburns so bushy they resembled a barrister’s wig, now has thin white hair clipped close to the scalp, a side effect of cohabitation with a hairdresser.

Bailey tried to return to the courtroom, but he has been turned down, even after passing the bar exam not long ago in Maine. His old lawyer pals, including Alan Dershowitz, have a not-so-complicated legal theory about why.

“Without a doubt,” Dershowitz told Town & Country. “I think it was a major factor in the vindictive way in which he’s been treated.”

Bailey won’t object to that one.

“People at every level, judges on down, pointed the finger and said, ‘If you hadn’t prostituted your talents for this guy, he would have gone to jail,’ ” he told Town & Country.

Bailey used to keep in touch with Simpson, who would call to chat about life and, later, from jail, about how to get out. And then suddenly, after Simpson was convicted in the Nevada case, the calls stopped.

 

[Burt]

”People at every level, judges on down, pointed the finger and said, ‘If you hadn't prostituted your talents for this guy, he would have gone to jail,' " he told Town & Country.

I feel like this makes zero sense in the context of our legal system.

I can't imagine that this dude isn't some sort of monster among monsters to have cratered so hard with that resume.

 

[elrechazado]

Being disbarred and disgraced for his recent unethical actions is the real story here:


"Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer."

It's not because of OJ that he's above a salon.

 

[Lostconfused]

Yeah that part should be bolded.

 

[SlaughterX]

What about Jo... I mean, Robert Shapiro?

 

[Dabanton]

Being disbarred and disgraced for his recent unethical actions is the real story here:


"Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer."

It's not because of OJ that he's above a salon.

OJ mention gets eyes on the story though.

It's crude but effective.

 

[Leunam]

What about Jo... I mean, Robert Shapiro?

I thought he passed away.

 

[Balphon]

What about Jo... I mean, Robert Shapiro?

Haven't seen a Legalzoom commercial recently?

 

[Machine]

Being disbarred and disgraced for his recent unethical actions is the real story here:


"Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer."

It's not because of OJ that he's above a salon.

Yeah, attorneys can't mess with client funds. I've seen this kind of behavior take down a couple attorneys. The money goes into a separate account and has to be strictly accounted for.

 

[Fury451]

I thought he passed away.

Nope.

He's doing just fine. Flying under the radar more or less, but he co-founded and promoted LegalZoom on tv.

 

[SecretMoblin]

this article seems oddly sympathetic to a millionaire tax cheat who got slapped down by his state's Supreme Court for being a dishonest crook

 

[kevin1025]

Sounds almost familiar.

 

[Various Artists]

He's like a real life Jimmy McGill.

Edit : Ahh beaten!

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

“People at every level, judges on down, pointed the finger and said, ‘If you hadn’t prostituted your talents for this guy, he would have gone to jail,’ ” he told Town & Country.

I feel like this makes zero sense in the context of our legal system.

I can't imagine that this dude isn't some sort of monster among monsters to have cratered so hard with that resume.

You're right. Outside the legal system, people may judge lawyers for the clients they represent, but that generally doesn't happen within the legal system. Everyone has their right to their day in court with the lawyer of their choosing, even scumbags like OJ.

 

[Linkura]

What about Jo... I mean, Robert Shapiro?

He's now Robert Kardashian's son attorney. Seriously.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Didn't this guy also represent the Boston Strangler?

 

[nhlducks35]

I thought he passed away.

His son died of cancer

 

[Figboy79]

This story seems oddly sympathetic for a dude who misappropriated funds from one of his clients. I mean, it doesn't matter if the client was a drug dealer, those funds were specifically meant to handle his case, and this Bailey dude got disbarred because of his thievery. His connection to the OJ case doesn't seem to be even remotely close to the reason why he's disgraced and being turned down for work. But I guess mentioning OJ gets those clicks!

 

[Deuce Deuce]

He Better Call Saul.

 

[SliceSabre]

This isn't what I thought it was going to be about.

All these bad things happened to him because he was a dishonest cheat not because he defended OJ.

 

[glow]

Didn't this guy also represent the Boston Strangler?

Didn't he also read the OP?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Should have tried becoming a Cinnabon manager in Omaha instead.

this article seems oddly sympathetic to a millionaire tax cheat who got slapped down by his state's Supreme Court for being a dishonest crook

Seriously. Most such people get away scot-free, so we should probably celebrate a little that this dude at least got some sort of payback for his crookery.

 

[Kaiser Swayze]

Sounds almost familiar.

Bailey is, however, allowed to help himself to the cucumber water.

 

[snap]

Being disbarred and disgraced for his recent unethical actions is the real story here:


"Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer."

It's not because of OJ that he's above a salon.

Yeah, I feel like the story is implying the institutions are punishing him for OJ but just glossed over this part, which seems to be the actual reason he's on the outs.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

Even if he was labelled as a defender of horrible criminals and hated by his colleges, he didn't seem to have trouble owning that label and having a successful career. His downfall seems to be the misappropriation of funds and subsequent disbarment.

 

[Whompa02]

Being disbarred and disgraced for his recent unethical actions is the real story here:


"Last year, Bailey filed for bankruptcy after a string of scandals inside and outside the courtroom left him disbarred and shamed. He was accused of misappropriating funds from his defense of an alleged drug dealer."

It's not because of OJ that he's above a salon.

Oh wow lol...

 

[g11]

Yeah that article seems misleading as hell. I mean I'm sure most people today wouldn't know the name if they didn't make the O.J. connection, but the article pretty much insinuates he's where he is because he defended O.J. and now every judge, prosecutor and bar association in the country has it out for him, rather than it being to do with various ethical breaches after the O.J. case.

Bailey's high public profile has come both as a result of the cases he has taken and his own actions.[39] In 2001, he was disbarred in the state of Florida, with reciprocal disbarment in Massachusetts on April 11, 2003. The Florida disbarment was the result of his handling of shares in a pharmaceutical company named Biochem Pharma[40] during his representation of marijuana dealer Claude DuBoc.[41] Bailey had transferred a large portion of DuBoc's assets into his own accounts. The stock, worth about $5.9 million, was supposed to be included in the forfeiture of assets that DuBoc made as part of a plea bargain. It had been held by Bailey because it would be sold immediately if it came into government possession, but it was expected to rise dramatically in value.[42] Bailey later refused to turn it over, claiming that it was payment of his legal fees and not part of DuBoc's asset forfeiture.[43] In addition, Bailey claimed that the stock was collateral for loans that he had received, and so could not be sold until the loans were repaid.[44] These arguments were rejected by the court; the stock rose in value to about $20 million, and Bailey then argued that, if he turned over the stock so that it could be sold, he was entitled to keep the difference between what it was valued at when he received it and its new, higher price.[45] After Bailey was imprisoned for six weeks in 1996 for contempt of court, his brother raised the money that enabled Bailey to turn the stock over to the government, and he was released.[46][47] He was later found guilty of seven counts of attorney misconduct by the Florida Supreme Court, and in 2001 he was disbarred.[48] Massachusetts disbarred Bailey two years later.[49]

In early 2003, a judge ordered Bailey to pay $5 million in taxes and penalties on income connected with the Duboc case, but the judge later reversed the decision, although Bailey still had an unpaid tax bill of nearly $2 million, which he disputed.[50] In March 2005, Bailey filed to regain his law license in Massachusetts but failed.[51][52]

Sounds like he was just a greedy fucker with highly questionable ethics, not that he's being unfairly black-balled.

 

[slit]

I thought he passed away.

Mandela Effect.

 

[The Albatross]

I'm surprised he couldn't spin his career into books, speaking engagements, or televised interview for a cool $500,000 whenever he wants.

I don't think the article implies that OJ has any much to do with his bankruptcy, but it is the thing that F Lee Bailey is most well known for today. That he's defended a string of sexual abusers, domestic abusers, and wife murderers generally does not help his overall perception ... Few people are going to hire the guy who defended the Boston Strangler and OJ Simpson to, say, draw up their will or litigate their mortgage.

 

[sangreal]

Obviously more to this story. Even Mark Fuhrman finds work (on Fox News of course)

Rob Kardashian was doing fine until his death. Shapiro is doing fine. Don't believe for a minute this guys problems are related to OJ

Yeah that article seems misleading as hell. I mean I'm sure most people today wouldn't know the name if they didn't make the O.J. connection, but the article pretty much insinuates he's where he is because he defended O.J. and now every judge, prosecutor and bar association in the country has it out for him, rather than it being to do with various ethical breaches after the O.J. case.



Sounds like he was just a greedy fucker with highly questionable ethics, not that he's being unfairly black-balled.

this makes much more sense

 

[SecretMoblin]

As pointed out earlier, a good lawyer who is successful will never have an issue staying employed. Defense of scummy people is entirely irrelevant if you stay above board and provide a competent service (see: Mark Geragos, Stephen Jones, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, etc.).

 

[sangreal]

As pointed out earlier, a good lawyer who is successful will never have an issue staying employed. Defense of scummy people is entirely irrelevant if you stay above board and provide a competent service (see: Mark Geragos, Stephen Jones, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, etc.).

and Mark Geragos isn't even good at it

 

[NeonBlack]

I don't buy it. Getting OJ off is a positive for a lawyer's reputation.