Born and raised in the small towns of Wyoming, personal injury attorney Gerry Spence has been practicing law for nearly 60 years. A country lawyer, Mr. Spence has built his legacy on defending ordinary people against big corporations and the government.
Criminal Defense Law Center West Michigan. Wyoming, MI 49519; Grand Rapids, MI 49503; 616-438-6719; Home; Criminal Charges. Child Abuse; CPS Defense In Michigan
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 has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and Geraldo. He briefly had his own talk show on MSNBC, which he hosted from his home in Wyoming.
Gerry Spence, the 'country lawyer' from Wyoming, reflects on his life and career during a recent interview inside his log home in Wilson. Spence turns 80 years old on Jan. 8. (Derek DiLuzio,...
Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer. He is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. Spence has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and has not lost a civil case since 1969.
Defense lawyer Gerry Spence graduated from the University of Wyoming Law School and lives near Jackson.Jul 23, 2021
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Imaging SpenceGerry Spence / Spouse
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Already a respected trial lawyer in his native Wyoming, Spence attained national prominence in 1979 when he won a multimillion dollar legal judgment on behalf of the children of Karen Silkwood.
Ann WilsonShe hoped he would be a preacher, but he went to the University of Wyoming in Laramie and studied law instead. He met Ann Wilson at a college dance and they married in 1948, when he was 19.Sep 6, 1995
Legendary Trial Lawyer Gerry Spence is a legend among the trial bar as one of the greatest trial lawyers of our times. His civil practice and defense of those charged with crimes has gained him an international reputation for his high profile cases and record results for the poor, the injured and the damned.
Born, raised and educated in Wyoming, Spence graduated cum laude from the University of Wyoming Law School in 1952. The University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in May 1990. He has been honored for law and letters by the American Academy of Achievement.
Gerry Spence is a legend among the trial bar as one of the greatest trial lawyers of our times. His civil practice and defense of those charged with crimes has gained him an international reputation for his high profile cases and record results for the poor, the injured and the damned.
Born and raised in the small towns of Wyoming, personal injury attorney Gerry Spence has been practicing law for nearly 60 years. A country lawyer , Mr. Spence has built his legacy on defending ordinary people against big corporations and the government. He has been nationally recognized for trying and winning well-known cases, including the defense of Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the Karen Silkwood case, and the defense of Geoffrey Fieger. Mr. Spence did not lose a civil case from 1969 - 2010, and he has never lost a criminal case.
Spence did not lose a civil case from 1969 - 2010, and he has never lost a criminal case. Mr. Spence earned his law degree from the University of Wyoming Law School, graduating cum laude in 1952. In the spring of 1990, the University awarded Mr. Spence an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and he has been recognized by the American Academy ...
During the election season of 2004, Spence, a vocal opponent of tort reform, crisscrossed his native Wyoming spearheading a series of self-funded town hall-style meetings to inform voters of an upcoming ballot measure, Constitutional Amendment D, which would have limited Wyoming citizens' ability to recover compensation if injured by medical malpractice. The ballot measure failed, with a 50.3% "No" vote.
Spence gained attention for the Karen Silkwood case. Karen Silkwood was a chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium -production plant, where she became an activist and vocal critic of plant safety, also known as a whistleblower. On November 13, 1974, Silkwood died in a one-car crash under suspicious circumstances after reportedly gathering evidence for her union. Spence represented Silkwood's father and children, who charged that Kerr-McGee was responsible for exposing Silkwood to dangerous levels of radiation. Spence won a $10.5 million verdict for the family.
After the Silkwood case, Spence tried a number of high-profile cases. He has not lost a civil case since 1969 and has never lost a criminal case with a trial by jury.
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.
In 1986, Spence defended Lee Harvey Oswald, the deceased assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, against well-known prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in a 21-hour televised unscripted mock trial sponsored by London Weekend Television in the United Kingdom. The mock trial involved an actual U.S. judge, a jury of U.S. citizens, the introduction of hundreds of evidence exhibits, and many actual witnesses to events surrounding and including the assassination. The jury returned a guilty verdict. Expressing admiration for his adversary's prosecutorial skill, Spence remarked, "No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this case." The "docu-trial" and his preparation for it inspired Bugliosi's 1600-page book examining the details of the Kennedy assassination and various related conspiracy theories, entitled Reclaiming History, winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Several times in the book Bugliosi specifically cites his respect for Spence's abilities as a defense attorney as his impetus for digging more deeply into various aspects of the case than he perhaps would have otherwise.
During the election season of 2004, Spence, a vocal opponent of tort reform, crisscrossed his native Wyoming spearheading a series of self-funded town hall-style meetings to inform voters of an upcoming ballot measure, Constitutional Amendment D, which would have limited Wyoming citizens' ability to recover compensation if injured by medical malpractice. The ballot measure failed, with a 50.3% "No" vote.
Gerald Leonard "Gerry" Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer. He is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. As of 2014, Spence has never lost a criminal case either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney. He has not lost a civil case since 1969.
After the Silkwood case, Spence tried a number of high-profile cases. He has not lost a civil case since 1969 and has never lost a criminal case with a trial by jury. He has had several of his more prominent civil verdicts overturned on appeal and lost a 1985 manslaughter case in a bench trial in Newport, Oregon in December 1985, later prevailing on appeal.
Spence gained attention for the Karen Silkwood case. Karen Silkwood was a chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium-production plant, where she became an activist and vocal critic of plant safety, as what would now be known as a whistleblower. On November 13, 1974, Silkwood died in a one-car crash under suspicious circumstances after reportedly gathering evidence for her union. Spence represented Silkwood's father and children, who charged that Kerr-McGee was responsible for exposing Silkwood to dangerous levels of radiation. Spence won a $10.5 million verdict for the family.
In 1986, Spence defended Lee Harvey Oswald, the deceased assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, against well-known prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in a 21-hour televised unscripted mock trial sponsored by London Weekend Television in the United Kingdom. The mock trial involved an actual U.S. judge, a jury of U.S. citizens, the introduction of hundreds of evidence exhibits, and many actual witnesses to events surrounding and including the assassination. The jury returned a guilty verdict. Expressing admiration for his adversary's prosecutorial skill, Spence remarked, "No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this case." The "docu-trial" and his preparation for it inspired Bugliosi's 1600-page book examining the details of the Kennedy assassination and various related conspiracy theories, entitled Reclaiming History, winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Several times in the book Bugliosi specifically cites his respect for Spence's abilitie s as a defense attorney as his impetus for digging more deeply into various aspects of the case than he perhaps would have otherwise.
Gerry Spence, the 'country lawyer' from Wyoming, reflects on his life and career during a recent interview inside his log home in Wilson. Spence turns 80 years old on Jan. 8. (Derek DiLuzio, Star-Tribune correspondent)
Gerry has published 16 books with the 17th forthcoming, he writes a regularly updated blog, he still teaches at the Trial Lawyers College that he founded, he continues honing his art as a photographer, and he still works on cases for his law firm, among many other things.
For many years, Spence has lectured at law schools and conducted seminars at various legal organizations around the country.
He is the founder and director of the non-profit Trial Lawyers College, 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 wh…
Spence graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1949 and from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1952. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in May 1990. He started his career in Riverton, Wyoming, and later became a successful defense attorney for the insurance industry. Years later, Spence said he "saw the light" and became committed to representing people instead of corporations, insurance companies, banks, or "big business".
Spence gained attention for the Karen Silkwood case. Karen Silkwood was a chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plutonium-production plant, where she became an activist and vocal critic of plant safety, also known as a whistleblower. On November 13, 1974, Silkwood died in a one-car crash under suspicious circumstances after reportedly gathering evidence for her union. Spence represented Silkwood's father and children, who charged that Kerr-McGee was responsible for e…
During the election season of 2004, Spence, a vocal opponent of tort reform, crisscrossed his native Wyoming spearheading a series of self-funded town hall-style meetings to inform voters of an upcoming ballot measure, Constitutional Amendment D, which would have limited Wyoming citizens' ability to recover compensation if injured by medical malpractice. The ballot measure failed, with a 50.3% "No" vote.
After winning the Fieger acquittal in 2008, Spence told jurors, "This is my last case. I will be 80 in January, and it's time for me to quit, to put down the sword." In 2010, Spence was still listed as an active partner in the Spence Law Firm, located in Jackson, Wyoming, and continues to make public appearances. Gerry Spence's next case, a civil suit for wrongful incarceration, ended with a mistrial in December 2012, when the jury could not come to a unanimous decision. Per the cite t…
Gerry Spence is the author of more than a dozen books, including:
• Gunning for Justice - My Life and Trials (Doubleday 1982) ISBN 9780385177030
• Of Murder and Madness: A True Story of Insanity and the Law (Doubleday 1983) ISBN 978-0385188012
• Trial by Fire: The True Story of a Woman's Ordeal at the Hands of the Law (William Morrow 1986) ISBN 9780688060756
• Wyoming in Profile, Pruett Publishing, Boulder, Colorado, 1981, by Jean Henry Mead. ISBN 9780871086006
• Wyoming in Profile, Pruett Publishing, Boulder, Colorado, 1981, by Jean Henry Mead. ISBN 9780871086006