F. Lee Bailey (’60), Controversial Defense Lawyer in High-Profile Trials, Dies at 87

F. Lee Bailey, a swashbuckling, high-flying defense attorney whose celebrity often eclipsed that of his famous clients, but whose legal career crashed under the weight of financial fraud, personal bankruptcy, and disbarment, died Thursday in Georgia. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by his former law partner, Superior Court Judge Kenneth J. Fishman.

A Waltham native and Boston University Law School graduate, Mr. Bailey was for decades the model of the modern gun-for-hire criminal defender, a brilliant, pugnacious counselor whose courthouse presence all but guaranteed legal fireworks.

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