“I’m responding to what I see happening in the world,” she said. “A world where the guilty are free, and the innocent are imprisoned—where the human-rights abusers are free, and those who report on the abuses are locked up. As a lawyer, I can do something about that. Or I can at least try. So my work is focused on trying to help liberate victims and prosecute perpetrators—and by extension, our foundation’s work is trying to really do that at scale and globally.”

“When I choose a case, I think carefully about the ripple effect,” she continued. “I’ve said it about your case [journalist Maria Ressa's case in the Philippines]: there’s one journalist in the dock, but it’s democracy in your country that’s on trial. What’s driving you to continue to fight your battle is, as you put it, you’re holding the line for others. So I do think about which cases are going to have the greatest impact—not only for that individual but for others who are vulnerable as well.”