Prior to entering law school, Steve Harrelson was interested in public service. Steve managed a congressional campaign while studying for the bar exam and juggled political office in the state legislature while growing his budding law firm in the early years of practice.
Shortly after Steve obtained his law degree and opened his law firm for business, he was contacted by an Arkansan who was seeking a presidential pardon. This client had exhausted all other potential remedies at the administrative and court level, and the only way this person could theoretically have a clean slate (and to be able to hunt, the client’s passionate hobby) appeared to be through a full exoneration by way of a presidential pardon.
Steve Harrelson was somewhat familiar with an Arkansas governor’s pardon, as he had helped others navigate that process. However, a presidential pardon was a different matter and involved seeking assistance from the leader of the free world. It just so happened that that leader was a former Arkansas governor, and at the time the client contacted Steve Harrelson, the President was leaving office in four days.
Steve contacted all of his friends, acquaintances, and former colleagues working in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and the West Wing of the Oval Office. Steve hurriedly attained the necessary applications, spent the day with the client filling out the documentation, and shipped it off to a personal friend with instructions to deliver it to the oval office.
While this seemed like longer than the longest of shots, Steve did what he could for the client in exchange for a small $400 fee and three jars of the client’s homemade jelly. Neither Steve Harrelson were even notified that the application was received, but they held out hope for the deserving client.
On the morning the President was scheduled to leave the Presidency, Steve Harrelson went and picked up a New York Times, which included a front-page article regarding a list of last-minute presidential pardons. Steve quickly skipped the substance of the article and began skimming the names. There in paragraph 4 appeared the client’s name.
This was Steve Harrelson’s 3rd client in his new law practice. With this sort of excitement in the first year of lawyer-hood, Steve knew that he was in for an exciting career helping others help themselves.
Steve Harrelson is the founding partner of the Harrelson Law Firm, P.A.and is licensed to practice law in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas with offices in Texarkana and Little Rock.