Bill Pavelic Forum | Information on William Bill Pavelic

USA TODAY

January 17, 1995, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION

BYLINE: Gale Holland

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A

LENGTH: 407 words

DATELINE: LOS ANGELES

 Fierce in-fighting on O.J. Simpson’s legal force could force the ouster of one of his marquee-name lawyers, but the team is deep enough to take a loss.
“Even a great baseball team has fights,” says civil and criminal lawyer Leo Terrell. “The prosecution still has a very tough case to prove, and that’s be-cause of O.J.’s dream team.”
Lawyers Robert Shapiro and F. Lee Bailey appear to be in a power struggle - and one of them may not survive.

A clash of egos among the legal talents was to be expected. But the public airing is an embarrassing distraction as the team prepares to lay out its case for the jury Thursday.
Says Loyola University law professor Stanley Goldman, “They’re either going to have to kiss and make up, or one of them is going to have to go.”
The feud had been simmering for months.

Shapiro says it erupted over news leaks denigrating his role in the case. An internal investigation by former Los Angeles police detective Bill Pavelic traced the leaks to Bailey and his associates, he says.
Shapiro reacted bitterly to the reports, which he described as “very pain-ful.” Shapiro and Bailey have a quarter-century of history together.
Shapiro began his climb as a celebrity lawyer representing Bailey in a 1982 drunken-driving case, and he regarded him as a mentor.
Bailey’s also a courtroom legend, but his work has been eclipsed of late by others.

But in recent days, it was Shapiro who appeared to slip into the background. Last week, Shapiro sat wordless next to Simpson for three days while Bailey grilled a prosecution domestic violence expert.
“Bailey may be playing more of a role than Shapiro thinks he should be do-ing,” Goldman says.

Eventually, Shapiro threw Bailey out of his Century City offices, took his name off his legal stationery and has refused to drive with him or have his pho-tograph taken with him.
Any change in the chemistry of the team would enhance the growing power of lawyer Johnnie Cochran.

Shapiro said Cochran, who is writing the opening statement, would rule on his request to dump Bailey. Most experts put their money on Shapiro to remain, but Goldman points out Simpson is in charge.
“O.J. can fire any of them he wants, and Bailey’s got too much trial experi-ence to pass over,” Goldman says.

“It must be infuriating for O.J. Simpson to see important members of his team feuding in public,” UCLA law professor Peter Arenella says. “His life is on the line.”

LOAD-DATE: January 18, 1995

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, b/w, Sam Mircovich

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