March 29

Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.

Best known for his defense of O.J. Simpson in what many consider the trial of the century, famed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. died on March 29, 2005 in Los Angeles, California at age 67 of a brain tumor.

Although Cochran received national and international fame for his defense of the famous, his career developed with his defense of those seeking help in police brutality and criminal cases.  Cochran would note that his career included not just representing the rich and famous, but also working for the less fortunate by saying: “I work not only for the OJs, but also the No Js”.  

Cochran was born on October 2, 1937 in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Early on his family relocated to Los Angeles, California where he would graduate from Los Angeles High School and receive an undergraduate degree from the University of California. Los Angeles (UCLA).  Cochran would receive in 1962 his law degree from Loyola Law School and as it has been said before “the rest is history”.  He would go on to become one of America’s most successful attorneys and one of the most high profiled attorneys in the world.  What other attorney still has his words from a closing argument in a trial etched into the minds of millions of people, just say “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” and almost any age appropriate person will know those famous words were spoken during the Simpson trial by Cochran.