O.J.'s New Dream Team
O.J. Simpson will have a much different legal team than for his murder trial.
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2007 — -- Forget the snazzy suits and multimillion dollar defense team. This time, O.J.'s represented in his latest legal troubles by his longtime consigliere -- and some local lawyers.
They're not exactly the dream team. But then again, maybe they don't have to be considering that their client isn't facing murder charges.
O.J. Simpson's current crop of lawyers includes his longtime consigliere, a low-key local criminal defense attorney and three local lawyers who visited Simpson in jail and claim that they're being sidelined in the high-profile case amid accusations of defamation and racism.
Back in 1995, Simpson was represented by the infamous dream team of Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, F. Lee Bailey and Alan Dershowitz, whose multimillion-dollar defense got him acquitted on charges of murdering his wife and Ron Goldman. Back then, Simpson's net worth was estimated to top $15 million.
During this morning's bail hearing, Simpson was represented by Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso, an odd couple -- Galanter is a smooth-talking Florida lawyer and Grasso is a low-key lawyer who favors rumpled suits and whose office is across the street from the courthouse in Las Vegas.
Although it's not known what Simpson is paying them, the former football great's fortunes have declined dramatically since 1995 and his net worth is estimated to be close to $3 million.
The pair of lawyers declined comparisons to the dream team, with Galanter explaining that "we handle things in a routine way inside that building," pointing to the courthouse.
Grasso shook his head when asked about the dream team, pointing to the building where his office is located and saying, "I'm just a local guy, a simple criminal defense attorney."
Galanter has represented Simpson since 2000, when Simpson's civil lawyers recommended him to handle Simpson's defense in a road-rage incident south of Miami. Simpson was accused of cutting off another driver, confronting him and tearing off his sunglasses.
But since then, Galanter has also functioned as an unofficial spokesperson for the notorious football legend, arranging media interviews. When a New Yorker writer profiled Simpson in 2001, Galanter invited him to play golf and visit sick patients in a hospital with Simpson.
