The lawyer famed for high-profile defendants died last week at age 87. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty looks back at Bailey's career and his controversies.
A former colleague said on Thursday that the celebrity lawyer F. Lee Bailey who defended OJ Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the so-called Boston Strangler had died, but his legal career ceased after he was disqualified as a lawyer in two states Up. He is 87 years old.
On Thursday, Peter Horstman confirmed the news. He and Bailey worked in the same law firm for seven years.
In his legal career for more than forty years, Bailey was seen as arrogant, self-centered, and contemptuous of authority. But in defending his clients, he is also recognized as bold, talented, meticulous and tireless.
In an interview with U.S. News and World Report in September 1981, Bailey said: “The legal profession is an industry full of conceit. Few people who are less conceited are attracted to it.”