Over 20 years after the “Trial of the Century,” Americans are again captivated regarding the rise and fall of football legend and former Naked Gun actor O.J. Simpson. The FX television network’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and ESPN’s five-part documentary O.J.: Made in America has reignited interest in “The Juice.”
And who could forget O.J.’s “Dream Team” of defense lawyers: Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, Alan Dershowitz, Carl Douglas, Barry Scheck, and Gerald Uelman? But something people often do forget (or may not know) is that years later, Bailey was disbarred.
In 2001, the Florida Supreme Court disbarred Bailey after he transferred $5.9 million in stock owned by a client into a personal account. The client’s plea deal mandated that the stock be included in the client’s forfeiture of assets. Bailey contended the stock was part of his legal fees. The court disagreed and disbarred him. The lesson? Attorneys need to be ever-vigilant and never mix a client’s assets with their own.
F. Lee Bailey loses his quest to practice law again after past misdeeds.
By Mohsen Pasha
