Kim Kardashian May No Longer Have A Future As A Lawyer After $1.26 Million SEC Settlement

Earlier this year, Kim Kardashian finally passed California’s ‘baby bar’ exam, moving her one step closer to becoming a lawyer just like her late father, Robert Kardashian. While her interest in the field certainly seems legit, her recent $1.26 million SEC settlement may put her future law career in jeopardy. After all, being paid to shill cryptocurrency to people — and most importantly, not disclosing that you’re getting paid — isn’t necessarily the best look.

  1. Influencers and celebrities are legally required to disclose sponsored content. To protect consumers and followers who may not know better, these stars must make it clear when something they’re promoting on their feeds is being paid for by the company. While many people try and ignore or skirt this law, authorities do eventually catch up with them, which is what happened here.
  2. Kardashian is paying big money for her “mistake.” On October 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the reality star was being forced to pay up $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest for promoting EMAX Tokens without revealing that she’d actually been handed $250k to do so.
  3. Kim Kardashian’s lawyer has tried to play it all down. While she should be hanging her head in shame, Kardashian is so rich that $1.26 million is no big deal and she doesn’t seem to care. “Ms. Kardashian is pleased to have resolved this matter with the SEC,” her lawyer told E! News. “Kardashian fully cooperated with the SEC from the very beginning and she remains willing to do whatever she can to assist the SEC in this matter. She wanted to get this matter behind her to avoid a protracted dispute. The agreement she reached with the SEC allows her to do that so that she can move forward with her many different business pursuits.” Kardashian has also been banned from promoting crypto asset securities in any form through 2025.
  4. She did do the right thing by paying up quickly. While Kardashian could have fought the case and dragged it out, the end result likely would have been the same. In other words, she did the honorable thing by paying up quickly since she was definitely in the wrong.
  5. Kim Kardashian hasn’t actually been found guilty of a crime. She was in a sense, given that what she did was a violation of federal securities law. However, she wasn’t being taken to court on criminal charges.
  6. What does this mean for Kim Kardashian’s future as a lawyer? Technically speaking, not much. There’s nothing that would prevent her from continuing her law studies and going on to practice when she’s certified. However, thinking she’s above the law is a little sketchy and won’t go over well. “There is a character and fitness evaluation that everybody who wants to become a lawyer has to go through and they look for things like arrests, they look at things like being sued,” explained Andrew Stoltmann, an adjunct professor of securities law at Northwestern University (via E! News). “And this is a pretty significant issue for her. So, is it a potential speed bump to becoming a lawyer? Yes. Do I think it will preclude her from becoming a lawyer? No.”
  7. She’ll also have to disclose the case in the future. If Kardashian does decide to take the full bar exam to become a lawyer, she will have to fess up to the case at that time. Stoltmann says that it “could potentially prevent her from getting licensed,” though he doesn’t think it will. Either way, it’s going to be a bit awkward with the state bar association.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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