Attorney Johnnie Cochran Dies

Best Known For Simpson Defense, Also Had Many Wins For 'No-Js'

(CBS/AP)  "He was an inspiration to many, many young lawyers," said Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, a colleague on the Simpson case. "It's a sad, sad day."

Cochran was born Oct. 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the great-grandson of slaves, grandson of a sharecropper and son of an insurance salesman. He came to Los Angeles with his family in 1949, and became one of two dozen black students integrated into Los Angeles High School in the 1950s.

His skills as an attorney took shape as a child. He loved to argue, and in high school he excelled in debate. He came to idolize Thurgood Marshall, who would eventually become the Supreme Court's first black justice.

After graduating from UCLA, Cochran earned a law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He spent two years in the Los Angeles city attorney's office before establishing his own practice, later building his firm into a personal injury giant with more than 100 lawyers and offices around the country.

Although he frequently took on police departments in court, Cochran denied being anti-police and supported the decision of his only son, Jonathan, to join the California Highway Patrol.