Gerry Spence died yesterday, August 13th, at 96 years of age. I have known him for over thirty years. Gerry was a giant among the plaintiff and criminal defense trial lawyers of this century. He was a true legend in his time. It was over thirty years ago in the small town of Poulsbo on the Washington coast that I first met Gerry Spence. Gerry was there to receive an award, and one early morning, at a bed and breakfast where we both were staying, we encountered one another in the kitchen, searching for coffee. We were the only two up at that hour, so we began talking about what we loved best, being trial lawyers representing people. As we drank coffee and talked, it became clear to me that I had met someone very special who had unique ideas and was driven by a thirst for justice. More than that, I had met someone with mutual views about putting the client’s interests first and representing them with truth and honesty. I came away from that encounter with a new friend.

Shortly after our chance meeting, Gerry established his trial college in Wyoming and invited me to teach there. When I went to the ranch, I thought I was bringing knowledge and experience to the lawyers attending. I quickly realized that I received immeasurably more benefit than I gave.

I lectured at his trial college seminar in Wyoming for more than twenty years each summer. The two of us have lectured together and had the experience of just the two of us spending week-long photography trips together. Gerry had a significant influence on my professional skills as a trial lawyer. I am indebted to him for our friendship and teaching. His life was quite extraordinary in so many different ways. I wrote the following in my blog in 2013 about his invitation to speak at his first trial college program

“In 1994, Gerry Spence asked me to participate in teaching at a new trial college he was creating for lawyers to teach them the right way to be plaintiff trial lawyers. It was to be a non-profit college, and we would volunteer our time and transportation. I had known him for some time and quickly agreed, even

Though I had no real idea of what he had in mind.

The other people, in addition to Gerry and I,  invited for this first college were: Judge Joseph Cardine, Judy Clark, Bobby Lee Cook, Phil Corboy, Morris Dees, Alan Dershowitz, Vince Fuller,  Nancy Hollander, Garvin Isaacs, Joe Jamail, Rikki Klieman, Al Krieger, William Kuntsler, Judge Miles Lord, Terry McCarthy, Charles Ogletree, Steve  Rench,  Judge Robert Rose, Jim Shellow, Kim Taylor-Thompson, John Teirney, Bill Trine and Howard Weitzman.

His ad for the college said: “These  great lawyers will be at Gerry Spence’s ranch in Wyoming in August to help you become a winning trial lawyer for  people.” He said in this advertisement: ” We believe every trial lawyer has the potential to become an effective and winning advocate for justice. We  are committed to helping people’s lawyers become winning lawyers who will ethically and  nobly champion the cause of the injured, the forgotten, and the damned.”

Originally, there was only a July college session lasting thirty days, but

This was changed to have n recent years, there have been two sessions a year in July and September,  plus many other shorter sessions. I wasn’t able to go in July this year as planned due to a trial, so instead,  I leave tomorrow for the September session. I’ll fly from Seattle to Salt Lake and take a commuter to Jackson Hole. From there, I’ll drive my rental car two and a half to three hours to Dubois, WY, population 971. After something to eat there, I’ll continue driving another ten miles until I turn on an unpaved gravel road, another ten miles to the Thunderhead Ranch, where the main structure used for teaching and living quarters for the attendees is the huge two-story barn moved from miles away to this location by Gerry’s son Kent. Other outbuildings are also used as classrooms. We’ll start early and work late, including sessions after dinner. The group is broken into units with graduates of the College acting as teaching leaders. There is no TV, no WiFi, and cell phone use requires driving some distance away up a mountain, so I’ll not be posting anything this week while at the ranch. I’ll give you a report when I get back.”

Those of the many of us who have benefited from our involvement with Gerry can echo the thoughts in the lyrics from a song in the musical Wicked:

“I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn, and we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them; And we help them in return. Because I knew you, because I knew you, I have been changed for good…”

Men and women of rare qualities are few and far between, and we have been blessed to know Gerry. He had great wisdom about trial persuasion, but the two principles he advocated seem the most important. They are:

To win, we must be believed. To be believed, we must be believable. To be believable, we must tell the truth, the truth about ourselves—the whole truth. Winston Churchill once said, “What the people really want to hear is the truth—it is the exciting thing—to speak the truth.”

“A trial is always a race for credibility. If the lawyer is credible, fully credible, one who stands before the court or jury as his or her own true self, that lawyer will win. The jurors recognize that the lawyer is real, that the lawyer can be trusted. And the trusted lawyer will always win.”

It was a privilege to have known you, my friend. May your soul rest in peace.