Justin Bieber Dodges Big Probation Problem By Hours

Justin Bieber narrowly escaped a situation that could have landed him in jail ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story, Justin's lawyer, Shawn Holley, went to court at 8:30 AM June 9th and got a judge to end Bieber's probation in the egging case. As we reported, one of the conditions of his probation was that he obey all laws, and if he didn't the judge could throw him in jail.

Turns out, less than 10 hours before the hearing, Justin threw a punch at a guy after the NBA Finals in Cleveland. That could certainly have triggered a probation violation.

We've learned the court hearing was not scheduled in advance. Holley and the D.A. just walked into court and asked the judge to end Bieber's probation a month early.

It sure looks like Holley did Yeoman's work and beat the news before it spread. Our sources say, however, that Holley and the D.A. had actually talked amongst themselves days before about going to court and they say it's just coincidence.