Secret Superheroes celebrates people who’ve overcome adversity, made amazing contributions to society, and inspired others to do the same. Each week we highlight exceptional people in different fields. This week we focus on the law.
Adam Ciralsky
The man behind Netflix’s latest hit show, The Recruit, shares a secret with the show’s protagonist; he was also recruited as a CIA lawyer, and swiftly found himself in an awkward position. In Ciralsky’s case he learned that he may have been passed over for promotion because he was Jewish, and spent the next 12 years fighting a legal battle to uncover the truth.
She’s infamous as a celebrity lawyer whose skill at manipulating the media makes her a feared opponent, but Gloria Allred’s controversial work - involving celebrity figures such as Michael Jackson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Cosby - obscures a lifetime of litigation on behalf of less celebrated clients. Her legal battles to protect the rights of women and LGBT people have helped to protect the vulnerable from abuse, and prepared the ground for the MeToo movement.
She rose from grinding poverty to become both a beauty queen and a public defender, but Kimberley only found her true calling when she went to Kabul to train Afghan lawyers. She was so appalled by the injustices of the legal system that she set up a private practice and became the first foreign litigator to work in Afghan courts. She’s since been accused of espionage, and even had grenades thrown into her offices, but she’s now also one of the world’s most respected human rights lawyers.
