10 Most Influential Lawyers in the World

Their presence is an absolute necessity which establishes and topples governments all over the world. Here is a list of the 10 Most Influential Lawyers in the World who have made their name and the lawyers of today should draw their inspiration from these eminent personalities:

1. Joe Brown: Being the first African-American Prosecutor in Memphis, Joe’s life was pushed to the spotlight while he was the presiding judge over the last appeal of James Earl Ray of his conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He also helped lay the concrete for numerous African-American Lawyers after him. He is also famous for his reality court show “Judge Joe Brown”.
2. Harish Salve: Hailing in constitutional and taxation laws, Harish Salve made his name through landmark cases like Vodafone tax case, Doordarshan telecast rights case, Salman Khan’s hit-and-run case and Ambani brother gas dispute. He also served as the Solicitor General of India from 1999-2002.
3. Richard Scruggs: Richard is a prominent American trial lawyer. On behalf of ill shipyard workers, he successfully sued the asbestos industry and helped in removing asbestos from modern day practises. Further, he represented the state of Mississippi in the tobacco litigation of 1990s. He also helped the homeowners in placing claims against the insurance companies to mitigate the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina.
4. Soli Sorabjee: Soli Sorabjee has been the talk of the century as a jurist. He has served as the Solicitor General of India, Attorney General of India, received Padma Vibhushan for his defense of freedom of expression and protection of human rights. He has also served as a Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and held several offices in international organisations.
5. John Ray Grisham, Jr.: John Grisham is an American lawyer, politician and novelist who has written popular and bestselling legal thrillers. He was a criminal lawyer originally and also served as a Democrat in the House of Representatives in Mississippi. His novels have been adapted into various films and TV series.
6. Jane Wanjiru Michuki: Jane is a Kenyan lawyer and businesswoman. She is the Managing Partner at Kimani & Michuki Advocates whose client list includes Equity Group Holdings Ltd., the largest bank holding company in all of Africa. Moreover, she is the largest female stockholder on the Nairobi Stock Exchange with approximately US$50 million as net worth.
7. Wichai Thongtang: Before being a businessman, Wichai was a lawyer and worked for a big law firm where he represented giant companies such as Siam Yamaha, Swissair and Union Oil. He also represented former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Being a corporate lawyer and expert in finance and securities, he dived into real-estate and health industry and now stands at an estimated net worth of US$ 1.57 billion.
8. Vladimir Putin: The current President of Russia and shuffling between the posts of Prime Minister and President since 1999, Putin has various credits to this name. Graduated in law from Leningrad State University (oldest law school in Russia), he was a KGB Foreign Intelligence Officer for 16 years.
9. Christine Lagarde: Christine has been the gem of aspiring female eyes all around the world. She is a French anti-trust and labour lawyer and held various posts in the French government including Minister of Economic Affairs, Finance and Employment, etc. She is currently serving her second term as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
10. Barack Obama: From teaching Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School, Obama went on to involve in civil rights litigation through a firm. He was elected as a Senator in Illinois and subsequently, he went on to become the President of the United States of America twice and the rest is history.