TED Talk Tuesday: How I defend the rule of law
Today on TED Talk Tuesday with Wayne Powell of Powell Law Group, we share Kimberley Motley. The only western litigator in Afghanistan, she discusses her learning over the past 10 years from CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies to pro bono work for young girls.
“Justness is using laws for their intended purpose: to protect. Justness is a global problem. The need for justness is so great, it cannot be ignored.”
Highlighting the hard job journalists have in sharing global injustice and helping to understand what's going on in the world around us, Motley talks about the need to protect journalists in order for keep governments accountable and transparent.
She points out that 280 million boys and girls under 15 are in marriages that prolong the vicious cycle of poverty, poor health, lack of education.
One specific case Motley shares talks about a 12-year-old girl sold into marriage by her brother. This child is tortured after refusing to become a prostitute for the family. When Motley finally meets her while given a safe haven by Women for Afghan Women, she begins to understand the lack of education partly kept the child in this situation.
“... she didn’t know what her rights were, but she did know she had a certain level of protection by her government that failed her, and so we were able to talk about what her legal options were.”
After watching this TED Talk, Wayne Powell points out several personal beliefs that have driven his career and litigation practice for almost four decades:
A law is not just a piece of the legal system, but a cultural change, adapting people’s impression of justice, fairness, and other principles that the system depends on.
The law is suppose to be what governs behavior in order to protect the people, and a change in the law should reflect the will and the way those people wish to be governed.
Protecting everyone's right to be free protects all of us, because it means we have built a system of fairness. What we once saw as individual problems, or state level problems, are global problems, and are amongst the shared responsibilities we have as a part of the international legal community.
At Powell Law Group, we find many of our clients who have been injured don’t always know the laws, but feel their current injury is the fault of another person or company. It is in our understanding of the law that we are able to help clients find justice.
If you or someone you know needs help to find justice, call Powell Law Group to learn how Wayne Powell and his team have been helping people navigate the American justice system for nearly four decades.
“We all need to create a global culture of human rights and be investors in a global human rights economy, and by working in this mindset, we can significantly improve justice globally.”
