LegalReader.com  ·  Legal News, Analysis, & Commentary

News & Politics

In Cochran Case, the Justices’ Silence May Be Golden


— May 7, 2005

The Supreme Court appears determined to rule on a dispute between famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr. and a disgruntled former client, in spite of Cochran’s death on March 29.

The case of Tory v. Cochran, a First Amendment challenge to an injunction Cochran obtained to keep Ulysses Tory from picketing his Los Angeles office, was argued in front of the high court just a week before Cochran died at the age of 67 from a brain tumor. Soon after, the Court invited Cochran’s lawyer to file what is known in Court terminology as a “suggestion of death” informing the justices about Cochran’s death and advising whether it rendered the case moot. . . .

[S]ince then, the Court has met in private conference three times, but has not acted on the filings — leading the two lawyers and a top Supreme Court procedural expert to believe that the Court is proceeding with the drafting of a decision in spite of Cochran’s death.

Details here from Tony Mauro of Legal Times via Law.com.

My earlier posts on the Cochran case are here and here.


The Supreme Court appears determined to rule on a dispute between famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr. and a disgruntled former client, in spite of Cochran’s death on March 29.

The case of Tory v. Cochran, a First Amendment challenge to an injunction Cochran obtained to keep Ulysses Tory from picketing his Los Angeles office, was argued in front of the high court just a week before Cochran died at the age of 67 from a brain tumor. Soon after, the Court invited Cochran’s lawyer to file what is known in Court terminology as a “suggestion of death” informing the justices about Cochran’s death and advising whether it rendered the case moot. . . .

[S]ince then, the Court has met in private conference three times, but has not acted on the filings — leading the two lawyers and a top Supreme Court procedural expert to believe that the Court is proceeding with the drafting of a decision in spite of Cochran’s death.

Details here from Tony Mauro of Legal Times via Law.com.

My earlier posts on the Cochran case are here and here.

Join the conversation!