This article will answer every question you have about Gerry Spence. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Gerry Spence do for a living?
- Who are Gerry Spence’s parents and siblings?
- What are Gerry Spence’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Gerry Spence married or does he have a girlfriend?
- Does Gerry Spence have any children?
- Where is Gerry Spence now?
- How tall is Gerry Spence?
- How much money does Gerry Spence earn?
- What is Gerry Spence’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Gerry Spence?
Gerry Spence is an American trial lawyer, though he has not fully retired. In addition, Spence is also a member of the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. Moreover, he has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney. In addition, since 1969 he has not lost a civil case.
Career
Spence begun his career in the 1990s after he graduated from law school, he started in Riverton, Wyoming. After that, he became a successful defense lawyer for the insurance industry. After years, he started representing people instead of corporations. Moreover, in 1954 he became Fremont County, Wyoming prosecutor a position, he held until 1962.
High-Profile cases
Karen Sillwood
He gained popularity for the Karen Silkwood case. Karen was a chemical technician at the Kerr-Mcgee plutonium -production plant. It was at this plant she became a whistleblower of plant safety. However on November 13, 1974, Karen died in a car crash under suspicious circumstances, this was after it was reportedly gathering enough evidence for her Union. Spence represented Silkwood’s father and children, who accused Kerr-McGee of exposing Silkwood to toxic amounts of radiation. Spence obtained a $10.5 million verdict on behalf of the family.
The Supreme Court of the United States in 1984, upheld the family’s right to sue under state law for the Punitive damages from a federally regulated industry. Karen case touched many people thus gaining international fame and it was the topic of books, magazines,s and newspaper articles, and the huge motion picture Silkwood portrayed by Meryl Streep.
How Old Is Gerry Spence?
He was born on 8th, January 1929 and is currently 92 years old.
Gerry Spence Family
Despite him being popular he has managed to keep information about his family background private but we will update it as soon as possible.
Gerry Spence Education
He attended the University of Wyoming and graduated in 1949. After that, he joined the University of Wyoming College of Law and graduated in 1952. In 1990, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law s Degree.
Gerry Spence Spouse
He is married to a second wife at the moment but much is not know about them or his first wife but we will update it as soon as possible.
Gerry Spence Kids
Information about his children is still unknown but we will update it as soon as possible.
Other Cases
Spence prosecuted a series of high-profile trials after the Silkwood case. He hasn’t lost a court lawsuit since 1969, and he’s never lost a jury hearing in a criminal case. Several of his most notable civil verdicts were reversed on appeal, and he lost a 1985 manslaughter lawsuit in a bench trial in Newport, Oregon, in December 1985, but won on appeal.
Gerald won the case of Randy Weaver was accused of murder, assault, conspiracy, and gun charges in the Ruby Ridge, Idaho federal standoff case. In Randy’s case, he successfully impugning the conduct of the FBI and its crime lab. In the entire trial in Randy’s case he never called any witness, he relied only on contradiction and holes in the prosecution’s story.
Gerald also defended Ed Cantrell successfully in the Rock Springs, Wyoming, murder case. He went ahead a won the acquittal of former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos in New York City on federal racketeering charges.
Spence has defended Earth First! creator David Foreman, who was charged with treason in 1990 for allegedly plotting to destroy a water-pumping facility. He went further and acquired the acquittal of Detroit lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, who was charged for unlawfully campaign contributions. Prior to returning a not-guilty verdict, the federal court jury deliberated 18 hours over four days. As a result of Geoffrey Fieger’s acquittal, he entered on the record of never having lost a criminal case intact.
In civil litigation, he managed to obtain a verdict of $ 52 million against McDonald’s Corporation on behalf of a small middle family-owned ice cream company. A $4 million medical malpractice jury set a new standard for nursing care in Utah. Spence won $33.5 million in moral and punitive damages for his quadriplegic client in 1992 after a large insurance firm failed to settle on the $50,000 contract.
Mock Trial
Furthermore, he represented Lee Harvey Oswald in 1986. Harvey was the deceased assassin of the US. President John F Kennedy, against a veteran prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in a 21-hour televised unscripted mock trial. The Trial was sponsored by the London Weekend Television in the UK. Moreover, the mock trial had a real US judge, a jury of US residents, hundreds of testimony displays, and numerous actual witnesses to incidents preceding and including the assassination.
In the mock trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict and they expressed admiration for Spence adversary’s prosecutorial skill. Spence went ahead and commented where he said ” No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this case.”
The “docu-trial” and his planning for it inspired Bugliosi’s 1600-page novel, Restoring History, which examined the specifics of the Kennedy assassination and numerous associated conspiracy theories and won the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.
Numerous times Bugliosi has specifically cited his respect for Gerald’s capability as a defense attorney as his impetus for digging more deeply into different aspects of the case than he perhaps would have otherwise.
TV Career
He has been a lecturer at Law School and he has conducted different legal organizations around the country. Furthermore is the founder of the and director of the non-profit Trial Lawyer College, where it aims lawyer and Judges who are committed to the Jury system. They are trained to help achieve justice for individual fighting.
Furthermore, spencer is the founder of Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming, which is also a non-profit, public interest firm. Moreover, he has also served as a legal consultant for NBC, where he was covering the Simpson trial. In addition, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1996.
Later Life
In December 2012, Gerry Spence’s next lawsuit, a federal suit for unfair arrest, resulted in a mistrial. His most recent novel, The Martyrdom of Collins Catch the Bear, was published by Seven Stories Press in 2020. It tells the untold tale of a Lakota Sioux man wrongfully accused of killing a white man at Russell Means’ Yellow Thunder Camp in 1982. The book explains the story of Collins catches the Bear, who was wrongly convicted of murder.
Gerry Spence Height
He stands at 6feet and 2inches
Gerry Spence Net Worth
He has a net worth of $20 million.