Gerry Spence

About the Gerry Spence

Gerald Leonard Spenceis a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College. Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010. He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century, and one of the best trial lawyers ever. He has been described by legal scholar Richard Falk as a “lawyer par excellence”.

Spence is recognized for winning virtually every case he has dealt with, and for winning a number of well-known cases, such as Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the Ed Cantrell murder case, the Karen Silkwood case, and the defense of Geoffrey Fieger. He also defended Brandon Mayfield, and carried out the successful prosecution of Mark Hopkinson. One of his most significant cases was the defense of Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines, in a racketeering/fraud case considered one of the trials of the century, which he won.

He has also won large million-dollar lawsuits against companies, such as $26.5 million in libel damages for 1978 Miss Wyoming Kim Pring against Penthouse in 1981. He also won a $52 million lawsuit against McDonald’s in 1984. According to Spence, he has won more multi-million dollar verdicts without an intervening loss than any lawyer in America.

He acted as a legal consultant for NBC in its coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and appeared on Larry King Live. He is the author of over a dozen books about politics and law, including The New York Times bestseller How to Argue and Win Every Time (1995), Win Your Case (2005), From Freedom to Slavery (1993), and Police State: How America’s Cops Get Away with Murder (2015).