Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Shawn Holley Back in the Spotlight

Criminal Defense Attorney Shawn Holley from Los Angeles, California has gained a national reputation for her representation of one of the country’s most recognizable defendants, Lindsay Lohan.  And just last week she was pulled back into the spotlight again, with Lohan facing three new misdemeanor charges in Los Angeles. These charges relate to a car accident that occurred earlier in the year, in addition to a new arrest in New York City for assault.

Shawn Holley’s representation of Lindsay Lohan has received so much attention that the Los Angeles Times highlighted her in a story entitled The Lawyer beside Lindsay Lohan, and Marie Claire highlighted her Formula for Success.  She has become so recognized for her representation of Lohan that the Hollywood Reporter photographed her with her famous client for the 2012 Power Lawyers list.  Shawn Holley is as connected to representing Lindsay Lohan as Johnny Cochran was to representing OJ Simpson.  And as irony would have it, she worked on the OJ case too.

Shawn Holley started her career as a public defender and spent five years at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. When she was recently profiled by her alma mater, Southwestern Law School, as A Public Defender at Heart, she made it clear that much of who she is today came out of her experience as a deputy public defender. She left the public defender’s office to work alongside Johnny Cochran, where she was involved with representing OJ Simpson and other high profile clients.  She is currently a partner in the boutique entertainment law firm in Los Angeles, Kinsella, Weitzman, Iser, Kump & Aldisert LLP. At this point in her career, her list of clients reads like a “who’s who” of celebrities and she has earned a reputation for being the go-to-lawyer for celebrities who get in trouble.

What is most compelling about Shawn Holley’s representation of Lindsay Lohan is how much compassion and care she has demonstrated towards her client.  She has shown the world that she cares about her client and that her client is more than just a fee.  By doing this she has humanized her client in the face of an intense media campaign to dehumanize her.  When she is interviewed about her client she doesn’t use the spotlight for her own advantage but uses it to champion her client’s cause and her client’s story.  The grace that she has shown in representing Lindsay Lohan while giving her client the zealous fight that she desires is worthy of recognition.  When asked in the Hollywood Reporter article how she created leverage to help her clients she said that she uses “charm, humor and friendliness to mask the vicious, snarling tactician hiding just beneath the surface.”

Without question she is doing that and more.  I will continue to watch this case and Shawn Holley, and will keep you posted

Previous
Previous

Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: What’s the Right Path to Equal Opportunity?

Next
Next

Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Don’t Wait to Claim Your Power