O.J. Simpson has been dead for months, but the legal and financial fallout from his life is still very much alive. The latest twist is a fresh lawsuit from a former attorney who says Simpson stiffed him on more than a million dollars in legal fees, and he is now chasing that money through the estate. Even in death, Simpson remains a magnet for courtroom drama and unpaid debts.
The ex-lawyer, the $1.1 million claim, and a crowded line of creditors
The newest fight centers on California attorney Ronald Slates, who says he represented Simpson “in various matters” up until the former NFL star’s death and was never fully paid. Slates, identified in court filings as a California lawyer, is asking a Nevada court to order the estate to cover what he describes as more than $1 million in back fees tied to years of work. One report pegs his demand at over $1.1 million, a figure that instantly puts him in the upper tier of people hoping to carve out a piece of whatever Simpson left behind.
Slates is not the only former representative trying to get paid, but his lawsuit is the most aggressive push yet to turn unpaid invoices into a court judgment. In a separate account, he is described as seeking over $1M in unpaid legal fees, underscoring how much time lawyers spent trying to manage Simpson’s legal exposure long after his criminal acquittal. Another summary of the complaint notes that the attorney is pressing his claim in Clark County, where the estate is being probated, positioning his demand alongside a long list of other obligations that did not disappear when Simpson did.
Inside the estate fight: from Las Vegas death to lingering debts
Simpson died at his Las Vegas home in April 2024, leaving behind a complicated financial picture and a reputation that guaranteed every move around his money would be scrutinized. One account of the new lawsuit notes that Simpson died at Vegas residence, and that the estate was never expected to satisfy every outstanding bill. The executor, longtime attorney Malcolm LaVergne, has already been juggling competing demands from creditors and from the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, who have chased Simpson’s assets since the 1990s.
Earlier reporting on the estate’s finances suggested that “The Simpson” assets were far smaller than the public might assume, even for a former NFL star whose name once sold rental cars and movies. One breakdown noted that Malcolm LaVergne, acting as executor, had agreed to pay Goldman but was not willing to simply open the doors of the estate to every claim that surfaced. That tension is now playing out in real time as Slates and others try to convince a judge that their invoices should be treated as priority debts rather than leftovers that get written off when the money runs out.
Old murders, new lawsuits, and what creditors can realistically expect
The backdrop to all of this is the double killing that made Simpson a permanent fixture in American legal history. Ron Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, were found dead in 1994, a crime that led to Simpson’s sensational murder trial and eventual acquittal. One recent account of the new fee dispute explicitly revisits how Ron Goldman and’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, were found dead in 1994, tying the current estate battle back to the original tragedy. The civil judgment that followed, which found Simpson liable for their deaths, has hung over his finances ever since, shaping how every dollar that comes into the estate is viewed by courts and by the families.
That history is part of why the latest legal-fee lawsuit is not just a dry contract dispute. A separate report describes how a former OJ Simpson attorney has filed a million dollar lawsuit against the estate and that a significant portion of those fees went unpaid, framing the claim as one more chapter in a decades long saga of unpaid obligations. Another summary notes that a former OJ Simpson lawyer is suing the estate for Alleged Unpaid Legal totaling $1.1, underscoring how large the tab has grown. Another account of the same dispute notes that the former OJ Simpson attorney has taken his case to court in LAS VEGAS, where Simpson’s estate is being handled, and that the complaint spells out years of work that the lawyer says was never fully compensated.
Legal experts watching the case point out that even a strong claim on paper does not guarantee a big payout once the estate’s actual assets are tallied. One detailed breakdown of the probate fight notes that a former OJ Simpson attorney is suing the estate for over $1M and that estimates of what is left for heirs and creditors range from $400,000 to $500,000. Another report on the same lawsuit notes that the attorney is seeking over $1.1 m in alleged unpaid fees, a figure that dwarfs what some observers believe the estate is actually worth. One summary of the complaint against the estate describes how Simpson’s former lawyer is suing for $1.1 in alleged unpaid legal fees and that the executor has already signaled that paying the full amount was always unlikely, a blunt reminder that even in death, Simpson’s finances are a zero sum game.
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