christopher TODD studios
Eric has authored several books that has been cited worldwide and is a frequent guest speaker on winning high profile trials.
PUBLIC FACE OF JUSTICE
It was Bonny Lee Bakley’s sister who heard Dubin on the radio. Distraught over the fact that actor Robert Blake had killed her sister, coupled with the fact that his defense team had absolutely crucified Bakley’s character on a national scale, the family turned to Dubin for help. Thus began what Dubin today refers to as “5 years of craziness.” “I had to succeed where the State of California fell short, which was in proving that Robert Blake killed Bonny Lee Bakley,” Dubin says. “It was my Mt. Everest. It was the largest investigation in LAPD history. The number of documents in the case totaled in the millions,” he says. But Dubin was determined to get justice for Bakley’s children. “After all of the horrible things that Robert Blake’s lawyers had said about Bonny Lee Bakley, I convinced the jury that Bonny was a loving mom, regardless of the massive media-trashing about her name and her life, who loved her children, was dead because of Robert Blake,” Dubin says. Continuing he says, “I gave it 1000%, because that’s all I know how to do. Everything I’d learned had taught me to be fearless. I moved to Burbank for four months to be able to work 22 hour days, and went into hardcore trial mode. The opposing attorney’s record at trial was 170 wins and 3 losses. He hadn’t lost a trial since 1970,” Dubin recalls. Yet Dubin prevailed, and the jury awarded the family of Bonny Lee Bakley $30 million dollars in general damages. “There were no special or punitive damages. I proved that Robert Blake killed his wife,
and that she wasn’t some scam artist who “had it coming.” But winning the trial didn’t mean that Dubin would be enjoying any type of anonymity at the conclusion. He’d already become a household name appearing on programs such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Fox News Channel and CNN. He was quoted in countless newspapers, invited to speak at schools and functions throughout the nation, and even threw the ceremonial first pitch at Tiger Stadium. Along the way, he says that he learned a great deal about the way the media works, and how to properly utilize it to benefit or protect clients or others. “The media can be an amazing tool, but it can be brutal. Trial lawyers are definitely fair game. I learned that the more you say to the media, the less power you have. The key is to have a plan and purpose, and anticipate the media’s angle before you speak. I have talked to the world, and especially at press conferences, I have learned to emphasis my message over and over again, no matter what questions the reporters are asking me. That way you limit their ability to stray,” he explains. By way of example, he tells of recently phoning GM after a family of four test drove an SUV which exploded. “I called, and Eric defeated Robert Blake’s team of lawyers and obtained a $30 million dollar jury verdict.
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one listener, Dubin unwittingly transitioned from becoming a public voice for victims to becoming the public face of justice for what would become Los Angeles’ most high profile case since the O.J. Simpson trial.