Kimberly Motley: The first and only foreign lawyer to practise in Afghanistan

The people she works with range from imprisoned Afghan women to foreign reporters and kidnap and rape victims

Kimberley Motley’s clients range from imprisoned Afghan women to foreign security contractors

Who’s this legal eagle?

Kimberly Motley, a US attorney. She’s the first and only foreign lawyer to practise in Afghanistan.

How long has she been working in that part of the world?

Ms Motley arrived in 2008 and, eight years later, the former US beauty queen remains the only foreigner with a license to practise in Afghanistan’s courts.

What’s her client base like?

The people she works with range from imprisoned Afghan women in Kabul’s Badam Bagh prison to foreign reporters and kidnap and rape victims.

Has she ever found herself on the wrong side of the law?

The upper echelons of the state aren’t her biggest fans, seemingly. Ms Motley, 38, says she has been “heavily pressured by the Government” to stop working on certain cases.

Why not just go back home?

Ms Motley is committed to defending human rights in the country. She describes herself as “a legal archaeologist,” and immerses herself in Islamic texts to identify passages that might help her clients, particularly women. A line stating “a woman is never to be inherited,” can be interpreted as “a woman must never be forced to marry,” she says.

So she’s doing some real good?

Her work has attracted the attention of the Danish filmmaker, Nicole Nielsen Horanyi. Motley’s Law, which is released in UK cinemas on 1 April, documents the lawyer’s time in Afghanistan.

What are the highlights?

The documentary opens with her discovering that somebody has lobbed a grenade into her building – but Ms Motley does not buckle under the threat of violence. “I work better angry than fearful,” she declares. “[Fear] just cripples you. If I am too afraid in Afghanistan... I am not going to be effective.”