James F Neal, the US lawyer who regularly grabbed headlines - whether prosecuting Jimmy Hoffa or key Watergate figures, or defending Elvis Presley’s doctor or the Exxon Corp after the Alaska oil spill - has died. He was 81.
Law partner Aubrey Harwell said Mr Neal died at a Nashville hospital after a months long battle against cancer.
In the words of Fred Thompson, already a lawyer in real life before he became one on TV: “Jim Neal was the greatest trial lawyer of his time.”
For former vice president Al Gore, Mr Neal was a “brilliant attorney” and close friend.
“As a prosecutor, he served our nation with brilliance and dedication at a time when his skill was greatly needed by the American people,” Mr Gore said in a statement.
And prosecute, by all accounts, was something Mr Neal did well.
The government had tried four times to convict the Teamsters president Hoffa before Mr Neal got it done in 1964 in a jury-tampering case.
As a special prosecutor, Mr Neal later dealt with Watergate conspirators and Nixon aides John Mitchell, Robert Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.
In private practice, Mr Neal successfully defended Ford against reckless homicide charges in Indiana after the petrol tank of a 1973 Ford Pinto exploded, killing the car’s driver.
In 1981, he successfully defended Dr George Nichopoulos of Memphis against charges that he overprescribed drugs to the late rock ‘n’ roll idol Presley.
AP