November 16, 1995
Web posted at: 7:30 a.m. (EST)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Johnnie Cochran on Wednesday became the latest legal luminary from the O.J. Simpson trial to sign a major book deal.
The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, would not disclose to the amount that Cochran is being paid for his life story, but some sources say that it could be anywhere from $2.5 million to a little past $4.2 million.
Prosecution attorney Marcia Clark got $4.2 million from Viking for her story.
Cochran successfully defended Simpson in the double-murder trial that lasted nine months.
"My Journey to Justice: The Autobiography of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.," will be published by Ballantine's One World division and is expected to be released in the spring of 1997. Cochran has not chosen a collaborator.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Cochran will get an advance slightly more than Clark's. The newspaper reported a source close to Cochran as saying, "Let's just say we won again."
However, the New York Times estimated Cochran's advance to be more than $2.5 million.
Robert Shapiro also jumped on the publishing bandwagon when he signed a $1.5 million deal on Tuesday with Warner Books. Defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz got a reported six-figure advance from Simon & Shuster.
The Simpson double murder trial has generated at least 36 books with another 14 waiting in the wings.
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