Who? Dr Ann Olivarius, senior partner, McAllister Olivarius and AO Advocates, Maidenhead and New York.

Why is she in the news? Acted for Chrissy Chambers, a YouTube celebrity, whose settlement for substantial damages against a man who uploaded ‘revenge pornography’ videos of her to the internet was announced in the High Court.

Thoughts on the case: ‘The good news is that after four years our client won a substantial payment and an apology in a new area of law. The bad news is that revenge porn is a growth industry – half of young people have shared intimate images because smartphones make it easy, so they are easy to misuse too. We lobbied hard for the criminal law against revenge porn that passed in 2015, but there are way too many cases for prosecutors to handle. I would like to see a civil law that gives victims a much clearer legal path to make perpetrators pay for the incredible havoc they cause.

‘The websites profiting from hosting the material should also be made liable.’

Dealing with the media: ‘My experience is that most reporters want to do a good job and need help to understand the nuances. We represent women (and men) in workplace discrimination cases and divorces, and child sex abuse survivors in the US and UK. The #MeToo movement shows the power of shining a public light on violations that usually shame people into silence. Media is crucial, because if victims don’t know justice is possible, they suffer alone.’

Why become a lawyer: ‘To make the world a better place. I came of age when women were just being allowed entry to male institutions (for me Yale and the Rhodes Scholarships). I want to “pay it forward” so others can have fuller opportunities.’

Career high: ‘Designing and bringing the first US case to hold that sexual harassment at universities is sex discrimination; Nelson Mandela introducing me as someone who “has advised me well and advanced the cause of justice, and improved life opportunities, for hundreds of millions of women, blacks and disadvantaged”.’

Career low: ‘Having to settle child sex abuse cases in England for 10% of what the claimant would win in the US on identical facts, because English law undervalues psychological suffering and disdains exemplary/punitive damages. In my experience, the fear of paying large sums wonderfully concentrates the minds of those who run organisations that look after children.’

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