Noted criminal defense attorney Roy Black, Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, has died

Renowned attorney Roy Black, considered by many colleagues and legal experts to be the "GOAT" of criminal defenders, died Tuesday at age 80 at his Coral Gables residence after battling an illness, according to his wife, Lea Black, with whom he had two children.

"He always fought for the underdog and people’s civil rights," his wife said in reporting his passing. "His greatest virtue was that he wasn’t judgmental. He understood that we all have our flaws. He was able to separate people’s behavior from their character."

Black, recognized in the U.S. legal world as a true myth, gained much popularity and virtually shot to fame in 1991, after winning the acquittal of William Kennedy Smith, nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, in a rape trial that was broadcast on national television. That case was very shocking at the time, leaving a great legacy for criminal law, as it was the first trial of an alleged serious sexual assault to receive full coverage, being broadcast on Court TV from Palm Beach, Florida.

From then on, Black had a meteoric rise, reaping impressive wins in complex legal battles and managing to attract high-profile clients, including Rush Limbaugh, Kelsey Grammer, Hélio Castroneves, Joe Francis, Philip Esformes, Justin Bieber and child molester Jeffrey Epstein, one of his most controversial and complex legal cases of his career.

In that case, Black was part of the team of lawyers who defended Epstein during the federal investigation in South Florida between 2006 and 2008, when the businessman was accused of sexually exploiting dozens of minors in Palm Beach.

The defense, which also included figures such as Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, managed to negotiate a controversial non-prosecution agreement in 2008, whereby Epstein pleaded guilty to two state-level misdemeanors, thereby avoiding more serious federal charges. The deal, signed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami, allowed Epstein to serve just 13 months in jail with daily work releases, despite the seriousness of the allegations. Roy Black was one of the key voices in that legal strategy, criticized in subsequent years by multiple organizations, state prosecutors and investigative journalists.

Black's death comes just as the Epstein case regained public and political notoriety. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a figure close to President Donald Trump, faces a rebellion within the MAGA ranks over her handling of the case, after promising a list of clients on her desk that never appeared. The Department of Justice denied its existence, released a flawed surveillance video and officially maintained that Epstein committed suicide, setting off a firestorm of criticism against Bondi, Trump and the entire administration.

Key voices in the MAGA movement, such as Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, Elon Musk, and Laura Loomer, openly called for Bondi's ouster. According to the press, top officials, including Dan Bongino and Kash Patel, reportedly threatened to resign if there is no change. To defuse the crisis, the Trump administration ordered the declassification of grand jury testimony and the release of part of the files linked to the case; however, these measures, for the time being, did not quell the criticism.

Although Black had many controversial clients, in the legal world his legacy is undeniable. Almost all litigators who knew him emphasized his professional ethics and his passion for defending his clients. That energy and talent took him from the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office, where he began his career, to eventually leading the Black Srebnick firm from his 13th-floor office overlooking Biscayne Bay.

Following the announcement of his death, several top U.S. litigators praised Black and his career.

"He really was the GOAT of criminal defense lawyers," David Oscar Markus wrote on his blog "The Southern District of Florida." "The most determined. And always so positive about winning."

Markus is an attorney for Epstein's former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Other legal luminaries, such as Brian Tannebaum, acknowledged that, when they were younger, they had Black as a reference: "As a young criminal defense lawyer in Miami, I wanted to be Roy Black. Many did."

The renowned Alan Dershowitz also reacted to the news.

"He will be remembered by all lawyers, and by all people who care about justice as a truly great man. The law will miss him, Florida will miss him, and ... I will miss him."