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Trapping O.J. Simpson: An Atypical Lawyer and His Methods [By Mary Waldron]

Jonathan Polak does not fit the typical, cliché lawyer image. He is not fast-talking, conniving, or deceptive. In fact, he is

probably the nicest, most humble lawyer around. But do not let that fool you into thinking he is a pushover. Although Polak has

a glowing integrity that beams even over a phone line, his determination when it comes to winning his cases is illustrated by his

approach to law.

By accepting the challenge to constantly

find new, creative solutions to cases, Polak

keeps his practice fresh and his own work

interesting and stimulating. His most current

case involves representing the Goldman

family in obtaining O.J. Simpson’s rights to

publicity. Simpson owes them and the Brown

family $33.5 million from a �997 wrongful

death civil case for the deaths of his ex-wife,

Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend,

Ronald Goldman.

From the time that he began to excel on the

debate team in high school, Polak knew that

he was cut out to be a lawyer. He earned

his B.S. in Political Science and his J.D.

at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in

Dallas. Attending the same university for

law school that he did as an undergraduate

was a valuable experience for Polak. “It

allowed me to take advantage of some of the

relationships that I had already built there,”

he said.

While Polak was at SMU, he was active in

student government and eventually served as

student body president during his senior year

as an undergraduate. He also participated in

the school’s law review during law school.

Although working on the law review was

not the most thrilling activity for him, he

gained an abundance of legal knowledge

and understanding. “I got to work with some

really smart people, and I think that’s the

best thing about practicing law. You get to be

around a lot of really smart people, and you

can learn a lot from them,” he said.

One of the smart people that Polak learned

a lot from was his mentor and teacher,

Professor Kobylka. Kobylka was one of

Polak’s undergraduate political science

teachers, and he has had a great deal of

influence on the ways Polak tackles issues in

law. “He was just so smart about the way he

analyzed issues. Even though he was not an

attorney, he had a very lawyer-like approach

to the way that he looked at civil rights

issues and those types of issues where law

and politics intersect.”

Polak got a jumpstart on his career when he

clerked at a couple of law firms the summer

before he graduated from law school. He was

offered jobs with both firms upon graduation

from SMU School of Law. Polak accepted

an offer from a lawyer he had worked for

who was transferring to another Dallas

firm called Harder, Hadden, Johnson, and

Bromberg.

After two years with Harder, Hadden,

Johnson, and Bromberg, Polak made the

decision to change his pace by moving to

a litigation boutique firm in Dallas called

Calhoun & Stacy. This move was crucial to

his future success because he was given a

variety of opportunities to try cases and really

dive into litigation. “In the span of the two or

three years that I was there, I took probably

�50 to 250 depositions and tried about �0 or

�2 cases. I really was able to cut my teeth on a

true litigation practice,” he said.

Once Polak and his wife decided to move to

Indiana to start a family, he began working

for bankruptcy and real estate firm Dann,

Pecar, Newman & Kleinman. It was here

that Polak took his practice and its focus

to a whole new level. Building his firm’s

intellectual property department from the

ground up, Polak became a master in that

area of law.

Last February, Polak became the chair of

Sommer Barnard’s intellectual property

department in Indianapolis. Close to 70% of

his current work is devoted to intellectual

property litigation and consulting.

Some of Polak’s latest cases in the area of

intellectual property rights have concerned

Q. What are your interests and hobbies?A. When I get a chance, I love to play with my three kids. I’ve got a nine-year-old and a six-and-a-half-year-old little girl, and I’ve got a little boy who’s about two and a half years old. Occasionally, I’ll get out and play a little golf.

Q.What CD is in your CD player right now? A.I listen to Nickelback, and I recently downloaded my favorite band from high school, Iron Maiden.

Q. What is the last magazine you read? A. ESPN Magazine

Q. What is your favorite television show? A. 24

Q. Who is your role model? A. As corny as it sounds, both of my parents are truly my role models.

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the estates of late high-profile celebrities—

such as Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and

Duke Ellington—and his clients’ battles to

keep their rights to photographs and uses of

late celebrities’ names and likenesses.

In 200�, putting a twist on his intellectual

property practice, Polak joined forces

with Karl Manders, who owns a private

investigator firm in Indianapolis called

Continental Enterprises, Inc. Manders

initiated the idea to help the Goldman family

obtain O.J. Simpson’s rights to publicity in

order to satisfy the payment that he has

owed them for almost �0 years. “Rather

than chasing the money after it’s been paid,

which is really a lost cause, we want to

take possession of the property right that

enables him to go and do these signings and

get money,” he said. This means that if the

family wins this case, they will receive all

payments earned by Simpson’s name and

likeness until the judgment payment amount

is met.

“He has thumbed his nose at the legal

system for so long; going out and striking

deals and doing signings and autograph

shows, never really giving the Goldmans the

benefit of any of that, even in part,” Polak

said.

Although Simpson was found not guilty in a

criminal trial for the �994 deaths of his ex-

wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend,

Ronald Goldman, he was found guilty in a

wrongful death civil case in �997.

The Goldmans’ case actually went to court

last October but was denied by Santa Monica

Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz

because she claimed that it would harm

Simpson’s right to privacy…although

Simpson does not appear to be attempting to

lead a low-profile life.

When news of an upcoming book release

by Simpson arose and quickly disappeared,

Polak and the Goldman family were taunted

yet again by Simpson’s failure to make

payment. He reportedly pocketed $�.�

million for his hypothetical account of the

murders of his ex-wife and her friend, If I Did It, which was recently pulled from release.

According to Polak, Simpson created a

“sham entity” called Lorraine Brooke

Associates (based on the middle names of

two of his children), in which he has been

stashing his monetary gains in order to

shield them from the Goldmans.

Fingers are also being pointed at the

companies that contributed to Simpson’s

payment for the infamous book and the TV

interview that was set to discuss the book.

“The real villains in this are the people

who acted in concert with him who you

would expect better from—companies like

HarperCollins, Fox Broadcasting, and News

Corp.,” Polak said.

As Polak and the Goldmans prepare to take

the issue on appeal, Polak said, “regardless

of whether we are successful or not, we

intend to push the envelope as far as we can

to see how far judges are willing to protect a

killer’s assets. Whether he was ever put into

an actual jail cell or not, he will remain in a

virtual jail cell as long as the Goldmans have

anything to say about it and certainly as long

as I am their attorney, and we are going to

continue to tighten our grip around him and

his assets and make that jail cell smaller and

smaller and smaller using legitimate legal

procedures that are available to us.”

If the Goldmans do win and Simpson decides

to hide away in seclusion, the Goldmans

will still be justified in their actions. “The

Goldmans are in the perfect position because

we get victory either way. If he continues to

go out and have public appearances and the

like, we will be taking action to capture those

funds. But if he never goes out and appears

in public again, if he stays in that virtual

jail cell that we put him in, then we will, at

minimum, have the moral victory of putting

him in there,” Polak said.

Throughout his career, and specifically

with the Goldman case, Polak has come

to discover one of the keys to enjoying the

practice of law. “Stay creative about the way

that you approach clients’ problems. When

everyone else is telling you ‘no, you can’t do

that,’ there’s always a way to find a way to

do it. You just have to be creative, and you’ve

got to be aggressive, and you’ve got to find a

path because that path is out there,” he said.

“It’s really easy to fall into the tried and

true practices, but what makes layering

fun, if there is such a thing, is to go places

no one has gone yet and to find ways to do

things that no one else has tried and then

to be successful at it…because then you are

making law, and that can be really fun.”

Because of his active interest in seeking new

ways to solve cases, Polak has managed to

keep his passion for law alive and thriving,

paving the way for a continuously exciting

career in law.

ON THE NET

Sommer Barnard, PC

www.sommerbarnard.com

Southern Methodist University

www.smu.edu

HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.com