In his 1991 autobiography Dees wrote that in 1962, as a young lawyer, he had represented Ku Klux Klan member Claude Henley, who faced Federal charges for attacking Freedom Riders in an incident documented by a "Life" magazine photographer. When Dees learned that another lawyer had asked for $15,000 to represent Henley, Dees offered to do the job for $5,000, which was roughly the median household salary in America at the time. Dees's defense helped Henley gain an acquittal. But Dees said he later had an "epiphany" and regretted defending Henley.