John Kelly represented the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson throughout both the criminal property proceedings and the civil trial, working alongside co-counsel Michael Piuze. He was deeply involved in the depositions that built the plaintiff's case, personally examining key witnesses including O.J. Simpson, Allen Cowlings, Robert Kardashian, and Cora Fischman. Kelly delivered an opening statement in the civil trial that depicted Simpson as an obsessively controlling abuser whose domestic violence escalated to murder, and he later participated in closing arguments that methodically presented evidence of Simpson's rage, his lies about the Bruno Magli shoes, and Nicole's own documented fear of him.