Wissenswertes

He was the basis for Jackie Chiles, the flashy lawyer played by Phil Morris on the TV series Seinfeld (1989). Even the initials are the same.

Known in Los Angeles as a brilliant trial attorney at the start of the 1990s, Cochran reportedly received only $100,000 of the multi-million dollar fee paid by O.J. Simpson to attorney Robert Shapiro. Shapiro acted as a broker for the defense, assembling the defense team and bringing in Cochran, F. Lee Bailey and Barry Scheck, all of whom helped save Simpson from what seemed, at first, to be a sure conviction for murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Though his fee was relatively small, the publicity generated by the trial was enormous, and before the trial ended with an acquittal, Cochran was world famous.

[During the O.J. Simpson murder trial] the media gave their defense team the nickname "The "Dream Team" because the team consisted of prominent lawyers such as F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian and Alan Dershowitz, all led by Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Has represented many high profile clients such as actor Todd Bridges, singer Michael Jackson, rappers Tupac Shakur, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Snoop Dogg, heavyweight championship boxer Riddick Bowe, and athlete Marion Jones.

Was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

Graduated from UCLA; law degree from Loyola Marymount University.

His catchphrase in the Simpson trial, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," became famous over the years. It derived from a dramatic moment during which Simpson tried on a pair of bloodstained "murder gloves" to show jurors they did not fit.

Was an L.A. high school classmate of Dustin Hoffman.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 87-89. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.