He played no favorites in the fight for justice.
Johnnie Cochran
Class of 1959
“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” There may be no better known quote in recent American trial history than that one, uttered by O.J. Simpson’s lead lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, about the bloody glove former football star O.J. Simpson struggled to put on during his trial for the murders of his ex-wife and her friend. But besides his celebrity clients, Cochran was well known as a ferocious defender of the powerless. After starting his defense practice, he was Assistant District Attorney for Los Angeles County in 1978. Cochran made an impact, representing the famous (Michael Jackson and Sean Combs, as well as Simpson), the controversial (Black Panther Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt) and the victimized (Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured by New York City police officers).