Many Angry Over Fate of Cochran Law Firm

Barely a year after Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.’s death, major changes at his Los Angeles-based law firm have startled and angered many in the city’s black community.

Though Cochran became internationally famous for his successful defense of O.J. Simpson on murder charges in 1995, he previously made his reputation in legal circles and in the black community for taking on police abuse and civil rights cases.

His fame allowed him to expand the Cochran Firm into a national presence with more than 125 attorneys in more than a dozen cities, though the heart of it remained his mid-Wilshire office. And the work of the firm, whether in Los Angeles, New York or Maui, Hawaii, remained civil rights cases and representing plaintiffs in civil litigation.

Though that emphasis continues, according to numerous people familiar with the workings of the firm, there have been significant changes in the last 13 months: the addition of a controversial national criminal division, headquartered in Santa Monica; the departure of two well-known black partners -- Shawn Chapman Holley and Eric Ferrer -- who had worked extensively with Cochran; and the perception that Chapman Holley and Ferrer were forced out by Cochran’s three surviving co-founders, two of whom are white.

While many details remain unclear, the changes have prompted concern in Los Angeles’ black community, which cherishes Cochran as a legal champion for the underrepresented and the abused.

“You can go to the barbershop, you can go to the supermarket, the church and hear the rumor about white folks taking over Johnnie Cochran’s firm,” said Los Angeles political consultant Kerman Maddox.

“He’s our last remaining hero. There are attorneys, and then there is Johnnie Cochran. All of us feel some kind of kinship with Johnnie.”

For others, the main concern is whether the new criminal defense division will tarnish the reputation Cochran established over several decades taking, and winning, major police abuse cases -- even getting rules governing police procedure changed.

In the decade between his victory in the Simpson case and his death of a brain tumor at age 67 last March, Cochran was involved in winning settlements for victims of civil rights abuse or police abuse across the country, including Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who was sodomized with a plunger by New York City police. He also was instrumental in helping get former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt’s murder conviction overturned.

“Quite honestly, the perception in the community is that Shawn Chapman Holley and the rest of the legal team that helped Johnnie and the activists he worked with have been betrayed,” said community activist Najee Ali. “The new changes, they’re tainting Johnnie’s legacy. They’re now going into an area of law that Johnnie never advocated -- the defense of rapists and child molesters....

“This has nothing to do with color. It has everything to do with respecting Johnnie’s legacy and supporting those whom Johnnie mentored, tutored and to whom the baton was passed.”

Cochran’s family, including his widow, Dale Mason Cochran, has spoken out about the controversy.

“We are disappointed in the personnel changes that have occurred in the Los Angeles office,” family members said in a statement released Wednesday by Cochran’s brother-in-law Bill Baker. “We are currently conducting an inquiry into some of the criticisms that have been published and we have been assured of the cooperation of the firm in both determining the facts and ensuring that the firm continues to uphold the mission, legacy, and name of Johnnie L Cochran Jr.”

Baker would not discuss whether the family holds a financial stake in the firm.

Brian Dunn, a partner in the Los Angeles office, would not comment on Chapman Holley’s departure, noting that she had retained counsel. But of Ferrer’s departure, Dunn -- who is also black -- said: “I can say with 100% certainty that Eric resigned.... He did not want to have a part of the new partnership.”

Ferrer denied that.

“I did not quit,” said Ferrer, who worked for years with Cochran on some of his most notable cases. “The things he prided himself on were the civil cases. That’s what I focused on. That’s what I lived and breathed the law for. I will continue to uphold these values whether I’m in the Cochran law firm or not.” Chapman Holley declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the lawyer who runs the year-old criminal defense section denies that it is a referral service.

“We are a law firm. We have eight lawyers that work out of [the Santa Monica offices.] We have employee lawyers that work out of Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, L.A. County and Orange County,” said Vince Imhoff, the managing partner of the criminal defense section. “We have partnership agreements with some lawyers throughout the country -- probably about 200.”

Critics expressed concern that the wide expansion into the criminal arena has left the Cochran Firm vulnerable to quality issues with some of its lawyers.

Sam Scott, a former case manager for the criminal section who says he was fired last fall for a variety of insignificant infractions, said he personally fielded dozens of complaints. “Most of them were unhappy because they thought we were giving them a Johnnie Cochran-quality lawyer,” he said. “We thought we were giving them that too.”

Imhoff denied that there has been an inordinate number of complaints.

“I think we had the same level of complaints other law firms have,” he said. “We have a commitment to the legacy of Johnnie Cochran. We try to make sure every complaint gets dealt with.”

Cochran gave up the stressful and time-consuming practice of criminal law after successfully defending rap music mogul Sean Combs on weapons charges in New York in 2000.

Colleagues of Cochran said he had always been averse to taking on rape and child molestation cases. The criminal section handles all types of criminal cases, including rape and molestation, Imhoff said.

“That’s not Johnnie’s vision, but Johnnie did represent Michael Jackson,” Imhoff said. Cochran represented the pop superstar in 1993 when he was first accused of sexual molestation, but not charged.

It is not uncommon for there to be upheaval after the death of a charismatic founder of an organization, and the Cochran Firm’s troubles appear to be no different.

“The firm had growing pains because basically we lost our chief,” said Dunn, who calls allegations that black people are being forced out outrageous.

Cochran mused about the leadership of his firm during a September 2004 phone interview, six months before his death. “I don’t want to just go to the hospital and die and then someone takes over the law firm. I want to pick and choose,” he said, naming his three co-founders, Samuel A. Cherry Jr., J. Keith Givens and Jock Smith, as well as Ferrer -- one of the key partners who recently left. “If something happens to me, they’ll carry on. I’ve watched these people.”

Winston Kevin McKesson, an independent criminal attorney who formerly worked with Cochran and is currently working on a case with Dunn, was philosophical about the future of the Cochran Firm.

“Would the excellence of Gladys Knight and the Pips be affected if Gladys Knight were to leave?” he said. “I’ve been practicing law for 23 years. I have yet to see a lawyer who I thought was at Cochran’s level. Period.”