Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College.[2] Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010.[3][4] He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century,[5][6] and one of the best trial lawyers ever.[7][8][9][10][2] He has been described by legal scholar Richard Falk as a "lawyer par excellence".[11]
He has also won large million-dollar lawsuits against companies, such as $26.5 million in libel damages for 1978 Miss Wyoming Kim Pring against Penthouse in 1981.[19] He also won a $52 million lawsuit against McDonald's in 1984.[20] According to Spence, he has won more multi-million dollar verdicts without an intervening loss than any lawyer in America.[21]
He acted as a legal consultant for NBC in its coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and appeared on Larry King Live.[22] He is the author of over a dozen books about politics and law, including The New York Times bestsellerHow to Argue and Win Every Time (1995), Win Your Case (2005),From Freedom to Slavery (1993), and Police State: How America's Cops Get Away with Murder (2015).[23]