Johnnie Cochran dies at age 67 from brain tumor

LOS ANGELES -- Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who became a legal superstar after helping clear O.J. Simpson during a sensational murder trial in which he uttered the famous quote, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died Tuesday. He was 67.\nCochran died of a brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles, his family said.\n"Certainly, Johnnie's career will be noted as one marked by 'celebrity' cases and clientele," his family said in a statement. "But he and his family were most proud of the work he did on behalf of those in the community."\nFor Cochran, Simpson's acquittal was the crowning achievement in a career notable for victories, often in cases with racial themes. He was a black man known for championing the causes of black defendants. Some of them, like Simpson, were famous, but more often than not they were unknowns.\n"The clients I've cared about the most are the No-Js, the ones who nobody knows," said Cochran.\nCochran was born Oct. 2, 1937, in Shreveport, La., 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 in the 1950s, he became one of two dozen black students integrated into Los Angeles High School.\nHe came to idolize Thurgood Marshall, the attorney who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to outlaw school segregation in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and who eventually would become the Supreme Court's first black justice.\nAfter graduating from UCLA, Cochran earned a law degree from Loyola University. He spent two years in the Los Angeles city attorney's office before establishing his own practice.\nCochran built his firm into a personal injury giant with more than 100 lawyers and offices around the country.\nAfter Simpson, Cochran stepped out of the criminal trial arena, concentrating instead on civil matters. For a time, he represented high-profile athletes and music stars in contract matters.\nHe remained a beloved figure in the black community, admired as a lawyer who was relentless in his pursuit of justice and as a philanthropist who helped fund a UCLA scholarship, a low-income housing complex and a New Jersey legal academy, among other charitable endeavors.