CELEBRITY US LAWYER F. LEE BAILEY DIES AT 87

F. Lee Bailey, the celebrity attorney who defended O.J. Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the alleged Boston Strangler, but whose legal career halted when he was disbarred in two states, has died, a former colleague said Thursday. He was 87, Mark Pratt reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Bailey died at a hospital in the Atlanta area, according to Kenneth Fishman, Bailey’s former law partner who went on to become a Superior Court judge in Massachusetts.

Fishman did not disclose the cause of death but said Bailey had moved to Georgia about a year ago to be closer to one of his sons and had been dealing with several medical issues for the past few months.

“In many respects, he was the model of what a criminal defense attorney should be in terms of preparation and investigation,” said Fishman, whose legal association and friendship with Bailey dates to 1975.

In a career that lasted more than four decades, Bailey was seen as arrogant, egocentric and contemptuous of authority.

But he was also acknowledged as bold, brilliant, meticulous, and tireless in the defense of his clients.

“The legal profession is a business with a tremendous collection of egos,” Bailey said in an interview with US News and World Report in September 1981. “Few people who are not strong egotistically gravitate to it.”

Some of Bailey’s other high-profile clients included Dr. Samuel Sheppard — accused of killing his wife — and Capt. Ernest Medina, charged in connection with the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.

Bailey, an avid pilot, best-selling author, and television show host was a member of the legal “dream team” that defended Simpson, the former star NFL running back and actor acquitted on charges that he killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in 1995.

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