Johnnie Cochran pursues his lifelong passion to promote racial justice

Black Collegian, Oct 1999 by Farmer, Paula

After several faxed requests and a seemingly endless game of phone tag, one could get the impression that the famed attorney Johnnie Cochran is either ridiculously busy or ever elusive to the average journalist. Once connected, the realization is that the latter could not be further from the truth and the "ridiculously busy" schedule has fast become a way of life for the now bicoastal attorney. After a lengthy interview with Cochran, who was wrapping things up from his New York office before catching the redeye to L.A., it was hard not to get tired just thinking of the schedule he maintains, and harder still to believe he is 62 years old and plans to keep up the pace for at least another five years.

Blame for all this activity falls partially on the worldwide attention and acclaim he received in 1995 as the lead attorney for the O.J. Simpson defense. The nearly yearlong case, commonly referred to as the "trial of the century," had millions of people riveted to their television sets. The trial resurfaced dormant race issues and consumed the life of Cochran. Cochran reflects on the labor of that year as unimaginably tense. "I've always believed the three keys to success are preparation, preparation, preparation. Our team worked 16 hours a day for over a year. We did what we had to do." The long hours and hard work paid off with a controversial verdict in favor of Simpson. But even after his infamous client seemingly disappeared into obscurity and the trial was no longer the talk of the day around the water coolers in offices across the nation, the name Johnnie Cochran is still known, respected by some, loathed by some and talked about.

Although the high profile Simpson case thrust Cochran into the legal limelight as a brilliant strategist and compelling orator, this is by no means a matter of overnight success. A career that was launched over 30 years ago is marked more by civil rights and racial profiling cases than by sexy, lucrative ones such as the Simpson case. Prior to that trial, Cochran garnered significant victories such as Leonard Deadwyler, a Black motorist stopped for speeding his pregnant wife to the hospital, then fatally shot, and Ron Settles, a Black college football star whose death at the hands of police was made to look like a suicide. Inspired by his idol Thurgood Marshall, and the Brown versus Board of Education case, Cochran has focused his career on helping eliminate blatant abuses by police toward people of color. Cochran remembers some of those cases of his early career as if it was yesterday and still maintains the same passion that made him take up the defense. "I've been doing this for 30 some years," Cochran says proudly. "I've had the most verdicts against the City of Los Angeles and the police department. This is what I have done, this has been my calling." He adds that it is natural for this to be his pursuit because the injustice has existed for all these years and he's raising the standard that "enough is enough." "People in New York and Los Angeles, especially mothers in the African-American community, are more afraid of the police injuring or killing their children than they are of muggers on the corner," proclaims Cochran with an undeniable passion. Talking to his father, it seems obvious that passion is a trait that transcends the professional part of his life.

Johnnie Cochran, Sr., 82, is known for having cultivated a relationship with his son that goes beyond paternal. He is, in fact, the high profile attorney's closest confidant concerning personal and professional matters. It was Cochran Sr. whom the younger Cochran initially talked with about whether or not to take on the Simpson case. Cochran Sr. admits to being his son's biggest fan and he's grateful they have remained close throughout the years. "Early on he was a kid who really was attentive, obedient, competitive and hard working," reflects the elder Cochran. "He always said, 'nobody's going to outwork me.' " It was that persistence and competitiveness that successfully carried Cochran through the Los Angeles school district, including LA High School, which at that time was normally reserved for the elite of the area. After graduating at the top of his class, the young Cochran went on to UCLA. To Cochran, UCLA won by default after his father explained that they could not afford Harvard University. But UCLA proved challenging enough for the business administration major who worked weekends with his father in the insurance business and later at the post office. Upon graduation from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Cochran launched his career as one of only three African-American attorneys with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office in the early 1960s.

Cochran is quick to credit his family and their support for getting him through those challenging academic years. In fact, he cites family, along with a strong Christian base, for successfully transitioning him to the stages of his life. His family roots hail from Shreveport, LA, to a California relocation where he and his three siblings spent much of their youth through adulthood. His parents inspired commitment to ambition, education and religion, which were not just practiced on Sundays. Cochran Sr. has always noticed and nurtured the seeds of greatness in his son and is especially proud not only of his professional achievements, but his character development. "Johnnie has always been devoted to his family, especially his mother and he is kind almost to a fault," notes Cochran Sr. To be sure, Cochran's family ties are close; in fact, his father still serves as his confidant, even on highly confidential professional matters.