"He represented people you've never heard of," he said.

"In the Bible, David beat Goliath one time," Rev. Jesse Jackson said, according to City News Service. "Johnnie beat Goliath over and over and over again."

In 1997, Cochran won freedom for former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, who had been wrongly imprisoned for 27 years. At the time, Cochran said it was the happiest day of his life. Why was that so important to him?

"He had a passion for Geronimo Pratt," says Klieman. "Had he worked, as you say, for 27 years to get the freedom for someone who he believed was wrongly convicted, and the idea of the emotion that welled up inside of him for all those years to be able to say to this man, 'You are free to leave.' for a lawyer who really works for justice, there is nothing better than that."