Editing Joseph A. Ball (section)

==Legal Career==
Ball established himself as a prominent trial attorney in California, known for his gentle yet effective courtroom style and ability to deliver eloquent arguments without notes. Based in Long Beach, he became a partner at the Los Angeles office of the Hawaii-based law firm Carlsmith Ball, a position he held for five decades. His notable clients included Watergate figure John D. Ehrlichman, automaker John DeLorean, and Saudi financier [[Adnan Khashoggi]]. Ball successfully defended Ehrlichman in a conspiracy case (though Ehrlichman was later convicted on other charges), secured an acquittal for DeLorean on drug charges in 1984, and represented Khashoggi in a high-profile $2.5-billion divorce case settled out of court in 1982. He also won significant cases, such as defending former county supervisor Herbert Legg against bribery charges in 1956 and developer Keith Smith in a 1970 bribery trial.

Beyond courtroom work, Ball contributed to legal reform. He helped draft the California Evidence Code and Tort Claims Act, served on the advisory committee for federal criminal procedure rules, and was involved in revising the California Constitution during the 1960s and 1970s. He taught criminal law at USC and three other law schools, was a former president of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the State Bar of California, and was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the leading American trial lawyers of his generation. In 1984, the American Bar Association established the Joseph A. Ball Award to honor his contributions to legal practice.