The Kardashians star becoming a lawyer might be a move that surprised a lot of people, despite her late father's profession, which he gained huge recognition for when he acted as friend O. J. Simpson's defense attorney during the 1995 murder trial that gripped the world. And it might come as a surprise to people given that she first burst onto the scene as Paris Hilton's assistant and stylist and then catapulted into fame in 2007 after her sex tape with singer Ray J, who was her boyfriend at the time, leaked.
Professionally, the mom-of-four has always done well thanks to reality TV shows such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Kourtney and Kim Take New York, and most recently the family's award-winning new show The Kardashians, which is currently streaming on Hulu. Kim and her sisters have also been behind clothing store Dash Boutique between 2006 and 2018, the souvenir store Kardashian Khaos which was located inside The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas between 2011 and 2014, their Kardashian Kollection clothing line which was at Sears between 2011 and 2015 and so much more.
Some of Kim's solo ventures have included her 2015 book Selfish, which is a book published by Rizzoli featuring over 300 selfies from over the years, the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game which started in 2014 and is still going strong, and KKW Beauty & KKW Fragrance between 2017 and 2021. Her two biggest and perhaps most famous ventures are of course Skims, which launched in 2019, and Skkn by Kim which launched in 2022.
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Kim Kardashian's Interest In Criminal Justice Reform
Kim has already changed lives through her work as a criminal justice reform advocate thanks to her interest in the criminal justice system, despite not yet being a fully qualified lawyer. Kim actually got her start as an advocate through Twitter, and she has since gone on to help both men and women fighting for justice from behind bars.
"I think it started off with me just wanting to know more, and me wanting to be able to help more," Kim said on an episode of their new reality show, The Kardashians. "But then it kind of was proving something to me personally. No one’s ever really respected a reality star with a sex tape, and I’ve always had to break through this stigma, and I want to prove this to myself that I can do it."
The Legal Apprenticeship And Studies Of Kim Kardashian
Kim explained that she wasn’t going to law school, but instead, was "reading the law," which is essentially a JD (Juris Doctorate) via apprenticeship but without the actual degree. In California, you don’t *need* to have an undergraduate degree to become a lawyer (it is only one of three states that allow this – with Virginia and Vermont being the other two) but there are certain rules that need to be followed. For example, Kim needs to spend at least four years studying with a practicing lawyer or judge to be eligible to take the California bar exam. Kim has been doing a four-year apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm, and we hope she isn’t reading this, but we just found out that California actually has the lowest exam pass rate (40%) among all other states. Talk about pressure!
California’s law office study program allows students to work under legal experts, and Kim was working under attorney Jessica Jackson. At the end of year one of her apprenticeship, she had to take the First-Year Law Students' Examination (more commonly known as the baby bar exam) which she eventually passed in 2021. Those who attend ABA-accredited law schools are exempt from the baby bar examination.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Kim, who has been very open about the highs and lows of the intense studying, including the fact she failed the baby bar three times before finally announcing that she had passed on social media! "For anyone who doesn’t know my law school journey, know this wasn’t easy or handed to me," she captioned a December 13th, 2021 post. "I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!! (I did have COVID on the 3rd try w a 104 fever but I’m not making excuses)," she continued, followed by a winking emoji.
"In California, the way I’m studying law you need to take 2 bar exams, this was just the first one but with the harder pass rate. I was told by top lawyers that this was a close to impossible journey and harder than the traditional law school route but it was my only option and it feels so so sooooo good to be here and on my way to achieving my goals." In the same post, she thanked Bar Bri Law School bar prep, and referenced the "10 hour days, daily 4 hour zooms, our in person practice tests week after week."
She concluded by writing: "I know my dad would be so proud and he would actually be so shocked to know that this is my path now but he would have been my best study partner. I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didn’t pass on their first attempt like he did, but he would have been my biggest cheerleader! Bottom line is don’t ever give up even when you are holding on by a thread, you can do it!"
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How Kim Kardashian Is Changing The Legal Profession
Kim hasn’t passed the California bar yet, but that hasn’t stopped her from helping more than a few people along the way. Some of the people she has helped have been featured on Oxygen's Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project documentary about the United States' criminal reform system, which Kim described as helping people to get a "second chance."
"I partnered with Oxygen to do the Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project documentary because there are millions of people impacted by this broken justice system, and I wanted to put faces to these numbers and statistics," she said in a statement. "There are a lot of people who deserve a second chance, but many do not have the resources to make it happen," she continued.
"I want to help elevate these cases to a national level to effect change, and this documentary is an honest depiction of me learning about the system and helping bring tangible results to justice reform," she added. Here are just a few of the most talked about cases Kim has worked on, not just while shooting the documentary, but in general…
Alice Marie Johnson
One of Kim's most famous cases involved 67-year-old great-grandmother Alice Marie Johnson, who had been serving a life sentence in federal prison without the possibility of parole since 1998. Johnson was convicted on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine, and money laundering for her role in a drug trafficking scheme. Johnson didn’t deal drugs directly, but became a "telephone mule" after losing her job and falling on hard times. Johnson took a number of learning courses during her time in prison, and volunteered to help sick and dying prisoners. She also helped coordinate the prison's Special Olympics.
A petition calling for her release gathered more than 260,000 signatures, and Kim lobbied the White House to grant Johnson clemency. She met with then President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner on May 30th, which just so happened to be Johnson's 63rd birthday, to advocate for her release from the Alabama prison; and Trump officially pardoned Johnson in June 2018, just one week after meeting with Kim. Johnson even went on to model for Kim's Skims line following her release, so it's safe to say Kim really did help her turn her whole life around!
Women Alice Marie Johnson Was Formerly Incarcerated With
On March 4th, 2020, Kim announced that then President Trump had granted clemency to three women who were incarcerated with Johnson. "President Trump commuted the sentences of three really deserving women," Kim tweeted at the time. "I didn't hear much about it in the news so I wanted to share with you their stories I have the pleasure of spending the day with these women today along with @AliceMarieFree who helped to pick these women."
Kim also tweeted photos and short descriptions of each of the women to highlight their cases, before making another exciting announcement. "Today Alice, Crystal, Judith, Tynice and I, along with the @cut_50 team will be at the White House bringing light to these women and discuss more change that our justice system desperately needs!" she tweeted, alongside a picture of herself posing with the women, adding: "White House here we come!!!"
Momolu Stewart
While shooting Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project in July 2019, Kim visited the District of Columbia Correctional Treatment Facility to "secure freedom for Americans who she believes have been wronged by the justice system" and met Momolu Stewart, now 39, who was given a life sentence in the 90s for the murder of an unarmed man when he was a teenager.
According to a letter Kim wrote to have Stewart's sentence reduced, he "openly admitted that he had shot and killed another young man and that he has to live with that reality every day." Kim went on to say that he has tried very hard to turn his life around while in prison, including earning his general education diploma and enrolling in college courses under the Georgetown Prisoner’s Scholars program.
A judge has since suspended his sentence, with Stewart saying he was honored to have Kim's support, telling Oxygen, "She has the ability to believe in others when the conventional aspect of things would be to shun 'em." He also attended Kayne West's Sunday Service after being released, and shared his story on stage.
Paul Algarin
Kim has also helped formerly incarcerated people restart their lives, for example, helping Paul Algarin remove his facial tattoos after being released following a seven-year prison sentence. This all came about after his sister Azaria Algarin asked Kim for help on social media, and to the family's delight, she was happy to oblige! She reportedly flew to Charlotte, North Carolina shortly after the Met Gala with then husband Kanye West and her doctor to help Paul remove the tattoos from his face. "Such a special day that I will forever cherish," Azaria wrote.
Kim Kardashian Is On Her Way To Becoming A Lawyer
Kim has already achieved so much while training to be a lawyer, and has changed many lives for the better through her work as a criminal justice reform advocate. We predict that she will go on to do even more good when she is a fully qualified lawyer, so watch this space!