Francis Lee Bailey Jr., commonly referred to as F. Lee Bailey, (born June 10, 1933) is an American former attorney. For most of his career, he was licensed in Massachusetts and Florida. He was a criminal defense attorney who served as the lawyer in the re-trial of osteopathic physician Sam Sheppard. He was also the supervisory attorney over attorney Mark J. Kadish in the court martial of Captain Ernest Medina for the My Lai Massacre, among other high-profile trials, and was one of the lawyers for the defense in the O. J. Simpson murder case. He has also had a number of visible defeats, legal controversies, and personal trouble with the law, and was disbarred in Massachusetts and Florida for misconduct while defending his client Claude DuBoc. He was denied admittance to practice law in Maine by the Maine State Bar Association and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
Former Publisher of the 70s men's (adult) magazine, Gallery.
2
Attended the Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire, a private boarding school located not far from Dartmouth College.
3
On November 21, 2001, the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the permanent disbarment of Bailey (that is, he was stricken from the roll of lawyers admitted to practice before the state's courts) for his misconduct in the 1994 DuBoc case specifically, for misappropriating client funds. In 1994, Bailey and Robert Shapiro represented Claude DuBoc, characterized by the federal government as a marijuana trafficking kingpin, eventually negotiating a verbal plea bargain deal with the U.S. Attorney in Florida in which DuBoc agreed to turn over his assets to the federal government. His assets included shares of the company BioChem worth approximately $6 million at the time of the plea bargain but which had appreciated by an additional $14 million by the year 2000, when the government sought to collect the stock, which had been deposited with Bailey as a caretaker. Pleading poverty to the press, Bailey refused to turn over the stock to the federal government, claiming in court that he was entitled to the appreciation of the stock in lieu of payment of his legal fees. In 2000, he was sent to prison for 44 days for contempt of court. After Shapiro testified for the federal government that it was entitled to the appreciated value of the stock, Bailey eventually quit his claim and surrendered the stock and was let out of prison. His conduct in this case led to his permanent disbarment in Florida. In a reciprocal disciplinary ruling, Bailey was disbarred by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2003. The Masschusetts disbarment was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a decision issued on June 9, 2006. Bailey earlier had been disbarred by the state of New Jersey for one year, in 1971. Bailey also had been censured in 1970 when a Massachusetts judge said his attitude showed "a self-esteem of such proportions as to challenge description" and recommended disbarment. By the dawn of the 21st Century, Bailey -- one of the most famous and sought-after trial attorneys in the 1960s and '70s -- was essentially ruined.
4
Godfather of one of Robert Shapiro's children. Shapiro had successfully defended Bailey on a drunk driving charge in the early 1980s. In 1994, the two defended O.J. Simpson on charges that he murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Shapiro recruited Barry Scheck, Robert Kardashian, and Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. to form the so-called "Dream Team"; Shapiro later told an interviewer that Cochran hijacked the case from him. During that trial, Bailey accused Mark Fuhrman of being a rogue cop who framed Simpson due to racism; Shapiro had accused the cop that arrested Bailey for DUI of going rouge. Simpson's acquittal gave Bailey a brief resurgence of his reputation, which had been tarnished by his loss in the Patricia Hearst case in which Hearst had accused him of incompetence.
5
Was spoofed by actor Tim Conway on The Carol Burnett Show (1967) as "F. Lee Bunny", a lawyer who just happens to resemble a rabbit.
6
Some of his more famous clients have included: Albert DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler) (convicted -1965), Sam Sheppard (acquitted -1966), Dr. Carl Coppolino (acquitted -1966), Capt. Ernest Medina (acquitted -1971), Patricia Hearst (convicted -1976), O.J. Simpson (acquitted -1994)
7
Bailey was the inspiration for the Clinton Judd character in the TV series, _"Judd, for the Defense" (1967)_
8
Hosted short-lived TV chat show, "Good Company" (1967)
9
Famous lawyer and author of many true crime books.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Matt Houston
1984
TV Series
F. Lee Bailey
Spider-Man
1981
TV Series voice
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The O.J. Simpson Trial: Where Are They Now?
2014
TV Movie
Himself
OJ Simpson: Monster or Myth?
2010
Documentary
Himself (credit only)
Frontline
2005
TV Series documentary
Himself
Larry King Live
2005
TV Series
Himself
Life and Times
2005
TV Series documentary
Himself
Osama Bin Laden on Trial
2001
TV Movie
Himself
ESPN SportsCentury
2000
TV Series documentary
Himself
American Justice
1996-2000
TV Series documentary
Himself
E! Mysteries & Scandals
2000
TV Series documentary
Himself
Lawbreakers
2000
TV Series documentary
Himself - Attorney for Albert DeSalvo
Absolutely 100% Guilty
1999
Video documentary
Himself
E! True Hollywood Story
1998
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Trial of O.J. Simpson
1995
TV Movie documentary
Himself
On Trial
1994
TV Movie documentary
Narrator
The Defense Rests: A Tribute to Raymond Burr
1993
TV Special
Himself
Today
1991
TV Series
Himself
Court TV News
1991
TV Series
Himself - Commentator
Late Night with David Letterman
1984
TV Series
Himself
Just Men!
1983
TV Series
Himself
Whodunnit?
1979
TV Series
Himself / panelist
Everyday
1979
TV Series
Himself
The Mike Douglas Show
1962-1978
TV Series
Himself - Attorney / Himself / Himselt - Attorney
Good Morning America
1976-1978
TV Series
Himself
Dinah!
1976
TV Series
Himself
V.I.P.-Schaukel
1976
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1967-1972
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest
The David Frost Show
1969-1971
TV Series
Himself
The Dick Cavett Show
1968-1970
TV Series
Himself
Free Press vs. Trial by Jury: The Sheppard Case
1969
TV Short documentary
Himself
The Joey Bishop Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
CBS Reports
1968
TV Series documentary
Himself
Good Company
1967
TV Series
Himself - - Host
What's My Line?
1967
TV Series
Himself - Mystery Guest #1
Firing Line
1967
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey
2016
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
True Crime with Aphrodite Jones
2010
TV Series documentary
Himself
True Crime Scene
2008
TV Series
Himself
E! True Hollywood Story
2008
TV Series documentary
Himself
The N Word
2004
Documentary
Himself
Frontline
2001
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1992
TV Series
Himself
Known for movies
Whodunnit? (1979) as Himself / panelist
Court TV News (1991) as Himself - Commentator
Absolutely 100% Guilty (1999) as Himself
The Mike Douglas Show (1962-1978) as Himself - Attorney / Himself / Himselt - Attorney
$5 Million
