Soon after the O.J. Simpson trial, Shapiro directed his practice away from criminal defense toward the civil litigator stadium. He’s in addition the voice of, and visualized in, the television advertisements for the LegalZoom firm he cofounded. In 1998, Shapiro sued Strawberry over outstanding legal fees, which were finally settled out of court. Shapiro continues to be sued unsuccessfully by record producer Phil Spector for refusing to return a US$1 million retainer for legal services. Spector made a decision to drop all claims against Shapiro. On April 30, 2007, Shapiro was the topic of an unpublished appellate opinion including claims he forwarded a request from his customer to your client’s CEO to remove US$6 million in cash in the flat of the customer, prior to your judge’s order freezing the customer’s assets. The Court of Appeal held that Shapiro’s law firm, Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs and Shapiro, may be held responsible for his alleged misconduct, even though Shapiro holds no equity interest in the company and isn’t an actual partner. Shapiro was exonerated from any wrongdoing. Shapiro often composes on the law and is the writer of three novels, The Search for Justice, Misconception and in addition created SOMO a character in a children’s book “Somo Says NO” with the anti-drug topic. The publication is created offered to schools cost-free.
Loyola Law School, University of California, Los Angeles
Nationality
United States of America
Spouse
Linell Shapiro (m. 1970)
Children
Brent Shapiro, Grant Shapiro
Nicknames
Robert Leslie Shapiro
Movies
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, My Favorite Martian, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, There Goes My Baby, Black Beauty, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Pee-wee's Big Adventure
TV Shows
Havoc (2005), The O. J. Simpson Story (1995), American Tragedy (2000), American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson (2016)
Star Sign
Virgo
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Quote
1
[on their defense strategy in the OJ Simpson murder case] Not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck.
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Fact
1
Had a falling out with fellow attorney F. Lee Bailey during a 1994 federal case in which the two friends and occasional partners in litigation defended one of the world's major marijuana smugglers. As part of a verbal plea bargain negotiated by the attorneys, their client agreed to forfeit his assets to the federal government, including stock holdings whose value had appreciated from $6 million to $20 million between the time of the plea bargain and the date when the federal government attempted to collect. The plea bargain was not in writing, so a federal judge held a hearing to determine the terms of the deal. Appearing as the lead witness for the federal government was Shapiro, who testified that his understanding of the agreement was that the government was entitled to the appreciated portion of the stock. When Bailey did not produce the stock or the cash equivalent, the judge jailed Bailey. After 44 days in a federal detention center, Bailey gave up his claim to the stock and eventually was disbarred by the bar of the state of Florida. Viewing Shapiro's action as a betrayal, Bailey swore never to deal with Shapiro again.
2
Defended Christian Brando, the son of Marlon Brando, on charges of murdering his sister Cheyenne's boyfriend Dag Drollett. Shapiro was recommended to Marlon by Marlon's friend William Kunstler, the famous cause attorney who was not a criminal lawyer. Through judicial maneuvering, Shapiro got the court to throw out Christian's jail-house confession as the detective, when warning him of his right to an attorney, failed to inform him of his right to have a public defender appointed to defend him if he could not afford to pay for his own attorney. The detective failed to mention this as he was convinced that Christian would have access to an attorney via his very wealthy father. In fact, Marlon did pay for his son's defense, the court argued that Christian's rights were violated since he had not been informed of his right to a public defender if penurious. This ruling, plus the fact that Marlon had spirited his daughter out of the United States, making it impossible for the court to hear her eye-witness testimony to the shooting, enabled Shapiro to approach the Los Angeles district attorney with a plea bargain. The district attorney accepted Christian's offer to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter. A sentence was not part of the deal, and while the district attorney pressed for a full 16-year prison sentence for the crime, Christian was finally sentenced to 10 years.
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Graduated from UCLA in 1965; law degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles.