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Amal Clooney:  How My Family and Upbringing Inspired My Work

International lawyer and human rights activist Amal Clooney has confronted ISIS, represented victims of genocide in Armenia and Darfur, and been an advocate for political prisoners around the world.

Even in the face of unspeakable evil, the 2023 Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture Series featured speaker remains true to her name. Amal in Arabic means hope. Born in Beirut in the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, Clooney’s life has been animated by an ambition for what could be.

“In the darkest places of the world, I see extraordinary acts of courage,” Clooney told the 1,000-plus in attendance at McFarlin Auditorium on March 9, 2023. In an hourlong conversation moderated by 51°µÍø Dedman School of Law Professor Natalie Nanasi, Director of the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women, Clooney shared how her family and upbringing inspired her work, detailed the arc of her career, and reflected on a few of the high-profile cases she has handled.

Clooney’s family left Lebanon as refugees when she was two years old and settled in the United Kingdom. Her “mum” was a political journalist who “made me and my sister feel like anything is possible. She had a career but didn’t give up the importance of family.”

A self-described “geeky teen,” Clooney developed an interest in the law by watching courtroom dramas, especially “L.A. Law.” She was attracted to the idea of being an advocate and using the law as a way to advance peace internationally, but admittedly didn’t know how she could pull it all together.

Clooney’s legal career started as a white-collar defense lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, where the Enron scandal kept her busy. It wasn’t until she started taking on pro bono cases that she found the kinds of cases that kept her up at night.

An opportunity to clerk for the presiding judge of one of the war crimes trials in the Hague launched her on the trajectory that has resulted in the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which she co-founded with her husband George Clooney in 2016 to take on human rights cases around the world. Clooney started representing survivors of ISIS and advised on the first ever genocide charges, and eventual conviction, against the terrorist organization.

“In that reversal of power, the slave and the captor, I saw the power of the law and the power of justice. It is a wonderful illustration of what is possible,” she said. When asked how she chooses which matters to take on, Clooney said she looks for cases with a “ripple effect,” where the underlying law can be challenged. Here Clooney made a plea to lawyers, law firms, and law clinics to help her foundation in pursuing its work and again later encouraged Big Law in particular to invest in pro bono.

Clooney, who is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, said she loves spending time with young lawyers and law students. For someone who has taken on violent actors and corrupt governments, Clooney revealed an unexpected vulnerability.

“It is terrifying to read student evaluations,” she laughed.

Though her family is in their “halcyon days,” Clooney identified a few challenges that are keeping her up at night: the equality of women in Iran, First Amendment concerns in the United States, and the record number of journalists in prison around the world.

With the future of justice requiring constant vigilance, Clooney left the audience with a charge to not fall into despondency.

“A lot of times you can’t confront evil, but you can confront apathy.”