Shawn Holley

Not many Hollywood attorneys can say they’ve made their case directly to the President, but Holley can.

In the summer of 2018, when Kim Kardashian petitioned directly to President Donald J. Trump on behalf of Alice Marie Johnson, her longtime attorney was right by her side.

Holley told the Daily Journal Kardashian has been a friend and client for over 20 years, explaining the two first met around the time Holley was working with her father, Robert Kardashian, on the OJ Simpson trial.

Kardashian texted her a link to a video about Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a 1996 drug trafficking conviction, and said “let’s do what we can to get her out of prison.” Holley began researching Johnson’s case to figure out their next legal move while Kardashian reached out to Ivanka Trump, who put her in touch with Jared Kushner.

Holley connected with lawyers already on the case and added new ones to round out her legal team. All the while, she said, “Kim never said no to any request for her time or her money.”

“She was fully committed to freeing Alice,” Holley said.

Before long, Holley would be on a plane to Washington D.C., working with Kardashian to figure out what their most compelling points to make would be. During the extensively-covered Oval Office meeting, Holley sat across from the President of the United States with then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-White House counsel Don McGahn to her right.

As she and Kardashian made their impassioned case on Johnson’s behalf, Holley said she felt like she was talking a mile a minute.

“It was and still is surreal,” Holley said. “A little more than a week later, Kim called me to tell me that our efforts had been successful, and that Alice was going to be released that day.”

Making the experience even more surreal, at the time she received the call Holley said she was in St. Louis representing former NFL running back in a major personal injury case against the St. Louis Rams. Following a much-publicized trial, Holley won her client $12.5 million. Bush v. St. Louis Rams, 1622-CC00013-01 (22nd Judicial Dis., filed Jan. 8, 2016)

Kardashian’s first steps towards becoming a lawyer herself have since made headlines, and while Kardashian isn’t apprenticing at Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP and isn’t working with the firm, Holley said Kardashian will occasionally call “to ask a question or two, but that’s about it.”

“She will make a great lawyer,” Holley said.

— Steven Crighton