Desiree Austin-Holliday is a Senior Associate Attorney at Ben Crump Law. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, as the youngest of four children. Her mother, Rev. Dr. Sharon G. Austin, was the first female pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Desiree received her earliest exposure to the impact and legacy of some of the greatest civil rights advocates.
Desiree moved to Florida at a young age and has lived in cities across the state. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government from Berry College in Rome, Georgia, in 2014. She attended St. Louis University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri, where she earned a law degree in 2018 with a concentration in criminal litigation.
During her law school years, Desiree was actively involved in various organizations, including a community outreach program that taught legal classes at local jails and juvenile detention centers. She received numerous accolades during law school for her school and community involvement.
Desiree originally started her legal career as a criminal defense attorney, representing individuals charged with offenses ranging from traffic tickets to homicide. Over the years, she gained experience and knowledge of civil litigation and civil rights law, working on cases of police brutality, employment discrimination, workers’ compensation, municipal law, and OSHA safety regulations.
Desiree has worked on several high-profile wrongful death, civil rights, mass tort cases, and employment discrimination cases, including the historic Malcolm X wrongful death case, the hair relaxer mass tort litigation, the Astroworld festival deaths, and has advocated for disenfranchised Black farmers in litigation against the U.S. government.
Desiree is passionate about helping people achieve their legal goals. She believes everyone deserves access to justice and is dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality representation.
Court Admissions
- Missouri State Bar
- Florida State Bar
- Georgia State Bar
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
