Malcolm LaVergne, O.J. Simpson’s attorney and executor of his estate, adamantly vows to thwart any attempts by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman to receive a share of the $33.5 million wrongful death judgment awarded to them in 1997, following Simpson’s civil case liability verdict.
Simpson has been charged in 1994 with the double murder of Brown Simpson and her friend Goldman. Brown was found not guilty by a jury in 1995. Simpson later lost the civil lawsuit filed by the victims’ families not long afterward.
Safeguarding Simpson’s Estate
LaVergne has explicitly stated his hope that the Goldmans receive nothing from Simpson’s estate, pledging to take all necessary steps to ensure this outcome, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
What is interesting about LaVergne being appointed as Simpson’s administrator is that it took the attorney by surprise, with LaVergne saying, “I am flummoxed as to why he would name me as the personal representative or the executor, but he did.”
The lawyer-turned-executor has represented the Juice since 2009, and his commitment to defending the disgraced football Hall of Famer goes beyond a client and lawyer relationship.
The lawyer now seems resolute in defending his estate to the bitter end, with LaVergne telling the Review-Journal, “It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing.” LaVergne added, “Specifically them. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
“And it’s something I’m going to take very seriously,” he added.
Simpson’s will, filed in a Nevada court and revealed on April 12, placed his assets into a trust established in January 2023. LaVergne has mentioned that the total value of the estate has not been determined yet.
Conflicting reports abound regarding Simpson’s net worth, the value of his assets, and the amount received and expected by the surviving family from the estate of the now-deceased player.
What is certain is that the will authorizes LaVergne to pay for a “suitable monument” at Simpson’s grave and specifies that any beneficiary challenging the will provisions will receive only $1, and only a single dollar, as reported by The Guardian.
The feud between LaVergne and the Goldmans has been fierce, especially since 2007, stemming from the completion of Simpson’s book, “If I Did It.” The publisher decided not to go ahead with the book, but the Goldmans won the rights to the manuscript. They retitled it “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer” and sold it.
Before his death, Simpson only paid the Goldman family $133,000 of the $33.5 million judgment in the more than 27 years since the civil trial.
With interest accruing over the decades, the total amount Simpson owed the Goldman family at the time of his death in 2024 had ballooned to nearly $100 million.
Simpson passed away on April 10, sparking mixed reactions online. Some responses were disparaging, while others took a reflective and mature approach.
Despite the Brown and Goldman families’ push for payment, LaVergne has claimed there was no court order actually compelling Simpson to pay the civil judgment during his lifetime.
While the families maintained that their pursuit was about holding Simpson accountable, not money, they acknowledge that with his death “the hope for true accountability has ended.”
