By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer

F. Lee Bailey may have stopped practicing law, but he has no plans to quit working just yet.

“The smart thing is don’t retire,” Bailey said. “You’ll stay busy and live longer or at least have a better time with it.”

Bailey, 77, is known for defending high-profile clients including O.J. Simpson, Patty Hearst, Sam Sheppard and Capt. Ernest Medina, who led the unit responsible for the My Lai massacre. He also heard the confession of Albert DeSalvo, the alleged Boston Strangler.

Bailey was in Scarborough last week to talk to the Kiwanis Club about his life and share more about his new business venture in Yarmouth.

Bailey moved to Maine last year with his partner, Deborah Elliot, to start the consulting firm Bailey and Elliott. Together they offer advice on fact-finding investigations, polygraph examinations, aviation and marine concerns, business advice and even cosmetology. Elliott, who served 20 years as a senior educator for Goldwell hair coloring of New England, offers the service to clients who want a look to help succeed in their professions.

Another area of particular interest to Bailey is the option of mediation between parties involved in smaller legal arguments.

“I’m very, very much against the jury system for anything other than disputes of great consequences or when someone’s rights are at stake,” Bailey said. “The American legal system really only supports a few people and those are the wealthy.”

Bailey said ordinary disputes can result in mounting legal fees and slow the judicial process.

“The system drags generically,” Bailey said. “Most litigants in America don’t understand that they probably lose more than they win, even if they win (the case).”

Bailey has addressed the issue by developing a system called QUICKSET, short for Quick Settlement. 

The program allows two parties in a dispute to discuss their grievances through a mediator outside the court system.

 Bailey describes the mediation process as, “a non-binding procedure whereby an experienced neutral person attempts, through pointing out the factual strengths and weaknesses on each side, to persuade the parties to reach some sort of compromise to quickly settle the dispute.”

If needed, a final arbitrator, usually a retired judge, will deliberate on proceedings.

Bailey said the entire process should take no longer than 30 days and most disputes can be settled for approximately $2,000.

Bailey also expressed concerns over the recidivism rate of inmates in America.

In Minnesota he helped establish the Amicus Program, which helps inmates make the transition from prison to the community. The program uses community businessmen as mentors to convicts looking for employment and has helped reduce Minnesota’s recidivism rate from 75 percent to 22 percent. 

Bailey also is a strong proponent of the polygraph test. He said the technology has been used recently as a deterrent to reduce recidivism rates of pedophiles from 75 to 80 percent to 17 percent by sending them back to jail if a test shows they violated conditions of release. He thinks it could be used in other areas of law enforcement as well.

“We could use the polygraph to threaten inmates on the street with going back,” Bailey said.

He also discussed the recent shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the need for greater education about signs and symptoms of mental illness. 

“We need to be committed civilly now,” Bailey said. “We would save ourselves a lot of senseless carnage.”

At the end of his presentation Bailey opened the floor for questions.

 “When do you know you cross the threshold into violation of someone’s rights?” asked member Eric Rosenblatt in response to Bailey’s call for earlier recognition of mental illness.

Bailey said preventing catastrophe is of ultimate importance.

“In the worst case they can be compensated, but the failure to take early warning signals and not do something about it has consequences far greater,” Bailey said.

Kiwanis Member Ron Forest said he understands Bailey has defended various mob bosses in the past, and asked where Baily stands when “a mob boss hires a lawyer and automatically says, ‘yeah I did it, but I need you to get me off.’”

 “The last guy that will ever admit guilt is a professional criminal,” said Bailey with a laugh.

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.