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Roy Black (attorney)

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Roy Black
Cover of Black's Law (1999)
Born(1945-02-17)February 17, 1945
New York City, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 2025(2025-07-21) (aged 80)
Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Other namesThe Professor
Alma materUniversity of Miami
University of Miami School of Law
OccupationLawyer
Spouse(s)
Naomi Morris Black
​
​
(m. 1984, divorced)​

Lea Black
​
(m. 1994)​
Children2

Roy Black (February 17, 1945 – July 21, 2025) was an American civil and criminal defense trial attorney, he was also a founding partner of Black Srebnick. He was a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.[1] He was known for his gaining an acquittal in 1991 of William Kennedy Smith on charges of rape and for his representation of conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh. He gained the only acquittal at trial in the Varsity Blues scandal, that being Amin Khoury, and gained the acquittal of Miami police officer William Lozano in a highly publicized retrial and whose killing of Clement Lloyd had sparked the 1989 Miami riot. He further gained the acquittal of famed racer Hélio Castroneves and his sister on charges of income tax evasion.[2]

Among the other celebrities whom Black represented include actor Kelsey Grammer, Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis, artist Peter Max,[3] financier Jeffrey Epstein[4] and pop musician Justin Bieber. Black was also informally known by his nickname, "The Professor".[5][1]

Early life and education

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Black was born in New York City in 1945.[6] His parents divorced soon after his birth and his mother remarried in 1951 to a British automotive executive who moved the family to Connecticut and then to Jamaica.[6] Black attended Jamaica College[7] and then earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami in 1967 and a Juris Doctor at the University of Miami School of Law. While attending UM, Black was a member of the Zeta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Tau Omega. Following his 1970 graduation, he received the highest possible score on the Florida Bar Exam.[6] After school, he worked as an assistant public defender.[6] In 1973, he worked as an adjunct professor in criminal evidence at the University of Miami.[6]

Career

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Until his death a partner in Black Srebnick, a Miami-based trial firm specializing in civil litigation and criminal defense, Black also served as an adjunct instructor of criminal evidence at the University of Miami School of Law.[8] In 1992, Black represented police officer William Lozano, whose killing of Clement Lloyd had sparked the 1989 Miami riots, he was convicted. However on appeal his conviction was overturned and in a retrial in 1993 he was acquitted.[9] In 2022, Black won an acquittal for a client charged with bribing a Georgetown University tennis coach to admit his daughter to Georgetown, ending the U.S. government's unbroken streak of convictions in the "Varsity Blues" prosecutions.[10] In addition to his legal work, Black provided legal commentary for various NBC news shows and played the "managing partner" of The Law Firm,[11] a short-lived reality-based television show pitting lawyers against each other week-to-week in a legal version of The Apprentice.

Roy Black was chosen as a top lawyer by Super Lawyers between 2006 and 2024.[12]

Personal life and death

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Black was married three times. In 1984, he married his second wife, Naomi Morris Black, with whom he had a daughter,[13] Nora Black (psychotherapist, San Francisco). In 1994, Roy Black married Lea Black, who had been a juror in the William Kennedy Smith trial and would later be a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Miami. They began dating several months after the trial.[14] They had a son, RJ,[15] who like his father, occasionally appeared on the show, for example, in a second-season episode, in which the three discuss one of Black's cases.

Black died at his home in Coral Gables, Florida, on July 21, 2025, at the age of 80.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Roy Black". Roy Black. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  2. ^ "Castroneves acquitted on tax evasion charges". ESPN.com. April 17, 2009. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  3. ^ "South Florida's Best and Brightest". Aventura Business Monthly. February 1, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-02-05.
  4. ^ Conchita Sarnoff & Lee Aitken (March 25, 2011). "Behind Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's Sweetheart Deal". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  5. ^ "The Verdict". Vanity Fair. September 15, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e Miami Magazine: "Black's Magic" BY CHRISTOPHER BOYD Spring 1998
  7. ^ Sajjad, Muhammad (January 9, 2025). "Roy Black: The Renowned Attorney and His Journey to Legal Excellence". Worldinfoupdate. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  8. ^ Christopher Boyd (Spring 1998). "Black's Magic". Miami Magazine. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  9. ^ Rohter, Larry (May 29, 1993). "Miami Police Officer Is Acquitted In Racially Charged Slaying Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  10. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (June 16, 2022). "A Businessman Is Acquitted in a Georgetown Admissions Trial". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
  11. ^ "Roy Black listing at IMDB". IMDb.
  12. ^ "Roy Black". Super Lawyers. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  13. ^ People Magazine: "Love and the Law - Four Years After the William Kennedy Smith Trial, Lawyer Roy Black and a Juror Are Husband and Wife" by Karen S. Schneider March 6, 1995
  14. ^ Karen S. Schneider (March 6, 1995). "Love and the Law". People. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  15. ^ "Season 2 Bio: Lea Black". BravoTV.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11.
  16. ^ Roy Black, one of the nation’s premier defense lawyers, dies in Coral Gables at 80
  17. ^ Robledo, Anthony. "Jeffrey Epstein lawyer Roy Black dies in Florida at age 80, firm says". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-07-25.
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