Robert George Kardashian (February 22, 1944 – September 30, 2003) was an American lawyer best known as one of the lawyers for, and friend of, O.J. Simpson.

Biography

Kardashian was born to a prosperous Armenian-American couple in Los Angeles. Kardashian earned a law degree from the University of San Diego and practiced for about a decade; after that, he went into business. He did not enter a courtroom again until Simpson's trial.

He is the father of three daughters, Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe, and one son, Robert Kardashian, Jr., with his former wife Kris Jenner.

Kardashian died of esophageal cancer on September 30, 2003.

Friendship and defense of O.J. Simpson

Kardashian and Simpson first met in the early 1970s and had become close friends. When Simpson was charged with murder, it had been 20 years since Kardashian was last in a courtroom. Kardashian, a graduate of University of San Diego School of Law, had let his license to practice law expire three years before. He reactivated his license to aid in Simpson's defense, as a volunteer on his legal team. Kardashian sat by Simpson throughout the trial.

In the days following the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, O.J. Simpson stayed in Kardashian's house. Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpson's garment bag the day Simpson flew back from Chicago. Prosecutors speculated the bag may have contained Simpson's bloody clothes and/or the murder weapon, but that was never proven, and examination of what was alleged to be the bag months later revealed no evidence.

When Simpson failed to turn himself in at 11 a.m. on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read a letter by Simpson to the collected media. The letter was interpreted by many as a suicide note.

Some time after the trial, Kardashian expressed doubts about Simpson's innocence; The California bar later investigated. Although this strained his relationship with Simpson at the time, by the time of Kardashian's death they had "put it aside"; After his death, Simpson said, "Bob was there when I needed him most."

See also

• Keeping Up with the Kardashians

References