Biography
Since her 2014 marriage, Amal Clooney has become one of the most watched women on the planet, her taste and style praised and dissected the world over.
A human rights barrister of international renown, Clooney’s career has seen her selected for the UN's three-member commission to look into possible violations of the rules of war in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Gaza conflict, and represents Julian Assange and the former presidents of the Ukraine and Republic of Maldives.
The Lebanese-British lawyer is also an activist and author and has given outspoken support for the freedom of press, representing Reuters journalists detained while reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar in 2018-2019.
To date, Clooney has refused to be drawn into the public domain on any subject unrelated to her legal profession. Despite her sense of style garnering significant attention from the press, Clooney’s response to an inquiry about a particular sartorial statement was “It is Ede & Ravenscroft” – referring to the famous makers of gowns for lawyers and graduates.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Clooney moved to London during the Civil War. Her mother is the foreign editor of the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat and a founder of PR company International Communication Experts. Clooney studied at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, where she received an Exhibition scholarship and the Shrigley Award. In 2000, Clooney graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence (Oxford's equivalent of the LLB).
The following year, in 2001, she entered New York University School of Law to study for the Master of Laws degree, where she was a clerk for the clerkships program at the International Court of Justice. Clooney is currently a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, working in international law, criminal law, human rights and extradition law. She also teaches at Columbia University.
With her impressive résumé and her highly regarded sense of style, Clooney is a powerful influencer in her own right — regardless of her actor husband.