EP: 16 - Shawn Holley: On Kim K, OJ & justice

Holley learned the ropes from Johnny Cochran during the Oj Simpson trail dubbed “the trial of the century.” In May 2018, Ms. Holley and Kim Kardashian West met with President Donald Trump at the White House to lobby for the release of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time, non-violent drug offender who was serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Ms. Holley and Ms. West were successful in persuading Mr. Trump to commute Ms. Johnson’s sentence in her twenty-second year of imprisonment.
Holley was raised in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her mother went to school at night working earning her M.B.A. Eventually, working her way up from legal secretary to the office manager at a large law firm. Holley was unimpressed and thought being an attorney was boring. Holley ended up as a waitress at the first ever California Pizza Kitchen when she met a “cool” lawyer who did work that excited her. She enrolled in Southwestern Law School in 1985. Shawn began her legal career in the Los Angeles public defender's office before being hired by Johnnie Cochran. She eventually became the Managing Partner of The Cochran Firm and was a member of O.J. Simpson's legal defense team, know as the "Dream Team." With more than sixty trials to her credit, Ms. Holley is the rare trial attorney who practices in the areas of both civil and criminal litigation. She was a highly visible member of the O.J. Simpson defense team and worked closely with Mr. Cochran on a number of high-profile civil and criminal cases when the firm was known as The Law Offices of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Among others, Ms. Holley has represented or currently represents Kanye West, Justin Bieber,Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Kathy Griffin, Rosario Dawson, Ryan Phillippe, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, the Kardashian/Jenner family, Katt Williams, radio personality Charlamagne tha God, Mike Tyson, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Lamar Odom, Reggie Bush, accused Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson, celebrated Black Panther leader Geronimo Pratt and members of Black Lives Matter.