Leslie Abramson Was the Controversial Lawyer Who Defended Erik Menendez — Where Is She Now?

In the October 1990 issue of Vanity Fair, crime reporter Dominick Dunne said that Leslie Abramson was "considered to be the most brilliant Los Angeles defense lawyer for death-row cases."

At the time, Abramson was preparing to defend Erik Menendez. Along with his brother Lyle, the two stood accused of murdering their parents in August 1989. Lyle was being represented by a lawyer Abramson frequently worked with. Rumor has it that they were each paid $700,000 to defend the siblings.

While they would both be found guilty after a second trial, the performance Abramson put on the in the courtroom was the stuff of legends. She ran circles around the state's witnesses, and stacked the witness stands with credible individuals who testified about alleged abuse in the home of the Menendez brothers.

So, where is Leslie Abramson now? Here's what we know.

In 2017, the Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders series aired on NBC with Edie Falco playing Abramson. It was really something to see. In September of that year, The Wrap briefly spoke with Abramson about the show, asking her if she had any opinions about it.

"Oh boy," she said on a call. "I have nothing to say. Absolutely nothing. Goodbye." Before hanging up, Abramson was asked if she planned on watching the series. She simply said no, and ended the call.

Showrunner René Balcer wanted to make sure Abramson was depicted in a more accurate light. During the Menendez brothers' various trials, the media unfairly labeled her angry and "typecast by the media as this foulmouthed raging harpy, defending these horrible monsters," said Balcer to Entertainment Weekly.

"She was tenacious. She didn’t back down from anybody."

After defending the Menendez brothers, Abramson wrote a book titled "The Defense Is Ready: Life in The Trenches of Criminal Law" which was released in February 1997.

In 2004, Abramson was once again part of a highly publicized trial when she briefly represented Phil Spector who shot and killed actor Lana Clarkson. Abramson ended up quitting for undisclosed reasons.

One month before Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents, a profile of Abramson was done for the Los Angeles Times. She is described as a capital punishment abolitionist who was in the process of meeting with two clients on death row when she spoke with the outlet.

One was Brian Hale, the "36-year-old college graduate from Downey who spent eight years on Death Row before the state Supreme Court reversed his murder conviction."

Before he was found guilty, Hale had been in and out of mental institutions. When he murdered two elderly people, it was because he believed they were demons. "This is the most appalling misuse of capital punishment," she said.

Abramson believed the use of the death penalty was "morally reprehensible" and did all she could to keep her clients off of death row.

Those who worked with or against Abramson knew they had to come prepared. She was extremely organized and thorough, which was an extension of how much care she put into what she was doing.

"The way the world talks about people accused of crime, it’s like they’re not from the same human species as the rest of us," she said. "Once you dehumanize people, it’s very easy to kill them." For Abramson, the most important part of her job was to keep humanity intact.