# F. Lee Bailey, you idjit..! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629 "2001-11-21T18:33:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/1 "2001-11-21T18:33:35Z")
Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not nice to play with dirty money? Especially money that’s not you own? Now you’ve gone and got yourself [disbarred](http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/11/21/bailey.disbarred.ap/index.html). Whatta dope. You’ve got a reputaion as being a smart cookie, and you _had_ to know you were going to get your ass kicked by the Feds, so what the fuck were you thinking? Why did it take _six weeks_ in the slammer for you to get a clue? Did you really think you were so good that you’d convince the Feds to give up their loot? Dunce. ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/2 "2001-11-21T19:33:27Z")
It’s nice to see somebody get what he deserves. F. Lee has been a disgrace to the profession for years. My personal take is that he figured that once he made his name with Sam Shephard he could coast for the rest of his life. He played games with his trust account? With Federal forfeiture property? Hah. He got what was coming to him. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; judging lawyers by the standard of F. Lee Bailey is like judging happy marriages by the standard of OJ Simpson. 😉 Zap!, Esq. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/3 "2001-11-21T21:13:43Z")
I saw this thread title and I thought, “I thought F. Lee Bailey was _dead_, a long time ago…” Okay, so what _other_ scumbag high-profile lawyer who was on an episode of Star Trek has been dead for a while? 😕 [sub]dang i hate this who WAS that guy on the old star trek dang i hate this[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/4 "2001-11-21T21:39:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > Okay, so what _other_ scumbag high-profile lawyer who was on an episode of Star Trek has been dead for a while? 😕 > \*\* [Melvin Belli](http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,2328496,00.html) Belli sounds like Bailey. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/5 "2001-11-22T05:46:35Z")
Oh, whew. THANK you, Friedo. Now I’ll be able to sleep tonight… 😃 [sub]i hate it when it does that melvin belli melvin belli melvin belli[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/6 "2001-11-22T11:04:07Z")
All the hateful things you hear (and say) about lawyers are inspired by losers like Bailey. Everyone is entitled to a good defence, even evil people, but reveling in and living large off defending them is not far from evil itself. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/7 "2001-11-22T18:04:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone is entitled to a good defence, even evil people, but reveling in and living large off defending them is not far from evil itself. Wait…not defending Bailey’s illegal and unethical acts, but “evil” people are only entitled to a defense by someone who doesn’t enjoy their work and doesn’t make much money off it? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/8 "2001-11-22T22:56:25Z")
At least some (I’m not sure about all) medical licensing boards will revoke a doctor’s medical license as a reciprocal measure once that M.D. has been bounced in another state. Does this also apply to attorneys - or is F. Lee only on the outs in Florida? ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/9 "2001-11-22T23:22:40Z")
He’s also licensed in Mass. and I hear they’re also thinking of disbarring him. Don’t have a link tho, read it in todays paper. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@King\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/10 "2001-11-23T03:50:08Z")
According to The N.Y. Times article, Bailey is disbarred in Florida for 5 years. What’s the difference between being suspended for 5 years and being disbarred for 5 years? In Bailey’s case, he will have to retake the bar exam and undergo another background check. I never liked Bailey ever since the Patty Hearst case. > [@](#): > > What really hurt her case, in Patty’s estimation, was Bailey’s closing argument. As he grabbed his notes, she could see that his hands were shaking and his face was flushed. She had the impression that he’d been drinking. His comments to the jury were rambling and irrelevant. Then he knocked a glass of water off the podium and the water hit his crotch. For the rest of his closing, it appeared that he’d wet his pants. Later Patty was to write about how jury members giggled: “It was, to say the least, distracting.” To make matters worse, he had flown each evening to Las Vegas to conduct a seminar, and had then flown back for the trial. It was the feeling of many that Bailey’s inability to make a forceful statement, whether he was exhausted or inebriated, decided Patty’s fate. F. Lee Bailey is a jerk, a crook, and a disgrace. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/11 "2001-11-24T00:37:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Everyone is entitled to a good defence, even evil people, but reveling in and living large off defending them is not far from evil itself. > > Wait…not defending Bailey’s illegal and unethical acts, but “evil” people are only entitled to a defense by someone who doesn’t enjoy their work and doesn’t make much money off it? \*\* I’d like to think that a good defense lawyer would behave in an ethical manner, as opposed to Mssr. Bailey’s (ex-Esq.) conduct, where his financial activity didn’t bear up to even cursory scrutiny, and his public statements are frequently outlandish and reprehensable. Worse, he makes many of those bizzare statements simply because it appears that he wishes to be the center of attention. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/12 "2001-11-24T04:07:06Z")
Moving away from the specifics of Bailey (and I said I’m not defending him) I guess I’m still not understanding why it is that making a good living being a defense attorney, and enjoying yourself while doing it, and even having a flamboyant public persona, is “not far from evil itself.” But what I really want to know is when-oh-when TVLand will air repeats of F. Lee Bailey’s groundbreaking syndicated series _Lie Detector_? ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/13 "2001-11-24T06:42:25Z")
I’ve always thought it was kind of funny that such a prominent defense attorney would have the name “F. Lee” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/14 "2001-11-24T16:34:10Z")
Well, he did make his name on the Sam Shepard case, which inspired “The Fugitive.” Coincidence? I think so! ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/15 "2001-11-25T05:58:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Moving away from the specifics of Bailey (and I said I’m not defending him) I guess I’m still not understanding why it is that making a good living being a defense attorney, and enjoying yourself while doing it, and even having a flamboyant public persona, is “not far from evil itself.” > \*\* Actually, I’m not say that it’s wrong, except in cases as extreme (criminal/unethical) as F. Lee’s. I’m not sure what **Bill H.**'s intent was, so I won’t speculate to _his_ meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Ramsmilk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Ramsmilk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramsmilk)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/16 "2001-11-26T20:18:36Z")
I think F. Lee Bailey is worth keeping as one of the only “names” people can make a joke about and get audience recognition. Complaining about “lawyers” in general seems to mean. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/17 "2001-11-26T22:22:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by King Rat \* > According to The N.Y. Times article, Bailey is disbarred in Florida for 5 years. What’s the difference between being suspended for 5 years and being disbarred for 5 years? In Bailey’s case, he will have to retake the bar exam and undergo another background check. I’m no expert on Florida attorney discipline proceedings, but I think you hit on the answer right there. As an educated guess, a person suspended for five years would be able to practice again at the end of the suspension, without having to take the bar again or submit to a background check. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2001, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/18 "2001-11-26T22:42:54Z")
At least in CA, you can be forced to jump through all kinds of hoops to get reinstated after you’ve been disbarred. First, you chill for five years (or whatever). Should you “accidently” represent yourself as an active member of the bar during that time, each instance is a felony. This can really add up, and you would be shocked (or maybe you wouldn’t) to know how many people will give a lawyer money without checking to see if he’s really an active member of the bar. Then, after you’ve done your time, the ethics committee sits around and discusses how to make this the most excruciating experience of your life. Let’s see, we’ll make him take the ethics exam and the bar exam again, then wait so long to evaluate them that he has to take them both AGAIN! Bwahahahahaha! Then we’ll crawl so far up his ass investigating every aspect of his life, we’ll be cast in the remake of _Fantastic Voyage_! This could and probably would take years. If they ever did let him practice again, they will note everywhere (web, publications, etc) that he was once disciplined, and anyone can get the skinny on the offending behavior. Many people who are disbarred probably just say forget it and don’t bother. You really have to want your license back to go through the reinstatement process. I know someone who spent about 5 years actively trying to get her license back after some major fuck ups involving drug use, comingling of funds, failure to properly represent a client and misrepresentation (4 counts). And remember, you really have to fuck up to get disbarred. We are talking serious offences of moral turpitude or actual crimes, not just your average shysterin’. ---
**Author:** ![HairyPotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@HairyPotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HairyPotter)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/19 "2001-11-27T04:09:47Z")
F. Lee Bailey behaved as an arrogant ass, which is totally in character for him. I’m glad you posted this slam on the scumbag low-life. Let’s hope he had Big Bubba as a room mate in the slammer, and the sentimental Bubba found tubby little F. Lee cute. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-lee-bailey-you-idjit/94629/20 "2001-11-27T18:25:01Z")
I was thinking last night that if I was a warden, I wouldn’t want this guy anywhere near my prison or jail. Jailhouse-lawyerin’ pain in the ass…