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Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is 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 trial before a jury, either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010.[1] He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century, and among the best trial lawyers ever. He has been described by legal scholar Richard Falk as a "lawyer par excellence".
Spence is recognized for winning nearly every case he has ever handled, including a number of high-profile 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 successfully prosecuted of Mark Hopkinson as a Special counsel. One of his most significant cases was the defense of Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines and first governor of Metro Manila, in a racketeering/fraud case considered one of the trials of the century, which he won.
He has also won multi-million-dollar lawsuits against corporations, such as $26.5 million in libel damages for 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 United States.
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).
From 1954 to 1962 he served as prosecuting attorney of Fremont County, Wyoming.
Gerry Spence and his second wife, Imaging, split their time between their homes in Dubois, Wyoming, and Santa Barbara, California. Despite having residences in two different states, Spence has stated that he will "die in Wyoming."
In 1984, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the family's right to seek punitive damages under state law, even against a federally regulated industry. Silkwood Case Laid To Rest, August 30, 1986, Science News. The Silkwood case achieved international fame and was the subject of many books, magazine and newspaper articles, and the major motion picture Silkwood starring Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood.
He is known for taking up cases deemed to be unwinnable, such as the murder case of Joe Esquibel, who murdered his wife in front of multiple witnesses, yet Spence managed to gain his acquittal through Insanity defense. He gained the acquittal of Sandy Jones for the murder of Wilfred Gerttula, and had the manslaughter conviction of her son, Michael Jones Jr., overturned on appeal.
Spence successfully defended Randy Weaver on murder, assault, conspiracy, and gun charges in the 1992 Ruby Ridge Standoff, by successfully impugning the conduct of the FBI and its crime lab. Spence never called a witness for the defense. He relied only on contradictions and holes in the prosecution's story. Spence later wrote that he rejected Weaver's extremist political opinions, but took the case because he believed Federal officials had entrapment Weaver and also behaved unconscionably in shooting Weaver's unarmed wife.Spence, Gerry (1994). From Freedom to Slavery: The Rebirth of Freedom in America. St. Martin's Press.
In another case, Spence successfully gained the acquittal of a young janitor who had confessed to stabbing a woman to death.
He gained the acquittal of Ed Cantrell in the Rock Springs, Wyoming, murder case, and he won the acquittal of former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos in New York City on federal racketeering charges.
Spence also defended Earth First! founder David Foreman, who in 1990 had been charged with conspiracy for an alleged plot to sabotage a water-pumping station.
On June 2, 2008, Spence obtained an acquittal of Detroit lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, who was charged with making unlawful campaign contributions. Before returning a not-guilty verdict, the federal court jury deliberated 18 hours over four days. The acquittal maintained Spence's record of never having lost a jury trial in a criminal matter.Spence, Gerry. The Smoking Gun.
In civil litigation, Spence won a $52 million verdict against McDonald's Corporation on behalf of a small, family-owned ice cream company. Associated Press, "Ice Cream Maker Wins Suit on Oral Contract", The New York Times, January 22, 1984. A medical malpractice verdict of over $4 million established a new standard for nursing care in Utah. In 1992 Spence earned $33.5 million verdicts for emotional and punitive damages for his quadriplegia client after a major insurance company refused to pay on the $50,000 policy. Chris Merrill, "In new 'retirement,' Wyoming's most famous attorney laments 'demonizing' of trial lawyers", Star-Tribune Casper Wyoming, December 21, 2008.
He is the founder and director of the non-profit Trial Lawyers College (now known as the "Gerry Spence Method"), where, per its mission statement, lawyers and judges "committed to the jury system" are trained to help achieve justice for individuals fighting "corporate and government oppression", particularly those individuals who could be described as "the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned". Teachers at the school have been Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, Morris Dees from the Southern Poverty Law Center and John Gotti defense lawyer Albert Krieger.
Spence is also the founder of Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming, a non-profit, public interest law firm.
Spence served as legal consultant for NBC television covering the O. J. Simpson trial and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and Geraldo Rivera. He briefly had his own talk show on MSNBC, which he hosted from his home in Wyoming.
Spence received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1996.
Spence was selected as a top lawyer by Super Lawyers between 2008 and 2022. He received the first Lifetime Achievement Award from Consumer Attorneys of California in 2008. He also received the American Association for Justice's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
Currently, Mr. Spence oversees The Gerry Spence Method program, which trains trial lawyers who represent injured people and people accused of crimes; no corporate or government lawyers are allowed to attend. Gerry Spence is one of the longest-serving lawyers, having worked for over 70 years.
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