These 10 most successful and influential lawyers in 2016 have definitely made significant impacts throughout their career. Some say that being a lawyer is one of the most difficult career paths to undergo. Being that you have to study for many years compared to others, memorizing laws, and trying to work with a law system that’s ever changing. While it’s difficult to become a lawyer, it’s even more difficult to stand out as one with many skilled lawyers all around the world.
With that said, these 10 lawyers have stood out, handling cases that essentially changed how the world deals with various things. They’ve also been known because they’ve tackled some of the most difficult cases and have even faced giants of the corporate world. The high amount of money needed to hire one of these lawyers is already a testament to how much success they were able to accrue over the years. If you are looking for cities that have a high demand for lawyers, you can also check out the 11 cities with the highest demand for lawyers.
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So how do we measure their success and influence? One of the main factors we can look into is their current net worth. Net worth is the measure of all their assets to see how high they fare compared to all other lawyers. Influence is more of a tricky matter, as not all information is available out there to cover the sheer number of contributions each of these lawyers has made. For their net worth, we look into websites such as Celebrity Money and Forbes which gather updated information on the net worth of these individuals. We’ll also take a look at their achievements, and their notable cases to provide you with accurate information.
We can also say that their net worth is a measure of what they have achieved and is also an indication of their influence since money is a large factor in making significant actions all over the world. Do take note that we can only report on the information given to us and others may have different parameters when it comes to influence. Without any more delay, here are the 10 most successful and influential lawyers in 2016:
10. Mark Geragos
Current Net Worth: $25 million
Geragos is a criminal defense lawyer, best known for defending numerous big names including Winona Ryder, Michael Jackson, and Scott Peterson. He represented Chris Brown during the assault case of Rihanna. He has also represented NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield and the brothers injured after the San Francisco Zoo incident. Mark is one of the top celebrity lawyers in the world.
9. Joe Brown
Current Net Worth: $30 million
Joe ranks 9th on our list of most successful and influential lawyers in 2016. It is the first African-American prosecutor in Memphis and helped pave the way for numerous African-American lawyers after him. He became well known for presiding over James Earl Ray’s appeal for the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. He also held the reality court show Judge Joe Brown for many years and it became syndicated in the US. The show is considered a spearhead for diversity on American television.
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8. Robert Shapiro
Current Net Worth: $50 million
Robert’s career has been defined by his numerous celebrity clients who include Johnny Carson, the Kardashians, Vince Coleman, and Linda Lovelace. What truly put him to the high ranks of lawyers was his ability to defend OJ Simpson in the case the resulted in his acquittal. He was notably part of that legal “dream team” that handled the case, and he also represented various civil cases. Robert made notable achievements in business as well.
7. John Branca
Current Net Worth: $50 million
John Branca is a well-known entertainment lawyer, best known for representing big artists in the industry. These include Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and much more. He was also responsible for the sale of various record companies including Rhino Records and Interscope Records. He’s the counsel for numerous music investors and is the chairman of The Michael Jackson Company. In 2016, he was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Billboard Magazine.
6. Jane Wanjiru Michuki
Current Net Worth: $60 million
Jane is one of the wealthiest people in Kenya, being the largest female stockholder of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). She is part of the corporate law firm Kimani & Michuki Advocates, which has a client base that includes the largest bank holding company in Africa, Equity Group Holdings Limited. She is known to handle a lot of the big corporate names in the country. These big achievements that she gained easily helped her become one of the 10 most successful and influential lawyers in 2016.
5. Roy Black
Current Net Worth: $100 million
Also known as “The Professor”, Roy Black has also represented a lot of big names including Justin Bieber, Kelsey Grammer, and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh. He is well known for gaining the acquittal of William Kennedy Smith in 1991 on the charges of rape. Roy is also a legal commentator for NBC and is an adjunct instructor at the University Of Miami School Of Law.
4. Willie E Gary
Current Net Worth: $100 million
Willie is not only a lawyer but also a cable television executive and motivational speaker. He has won cases against big corporations including Anheuser-Busch and Disneyland. He has won over 150 multimillion dollar lawsuits and was even responsible for getting a 500 million award for one of his clients. Willie appeared on Oprah and is known as one of the top attorneys in the United States. He also helped found the Black Family Channel in 1999.
3. Judy Sheindlin
Current Net Worth: $175 million
Also known as Judge Judy, Sheindlin is a Daytime Emmy Award winner of her reality courtroom series Judge Judy. She is the highest paid television personality and is the longest serving judge in a courtroom-themed program. She wrote books, produced shows, and has been featured in syndicated programs since the 1990s. Judy presided in over 20,000 cases and continues her television career today.
2. Bill Neukom
Current Net Worth: $850 million
Up next in our list of most successful and influential lawyers in 2016 is bill, that is the former managing partner of the MLB team, the San Francisco Giants. He was also a former President of the American Bar Association. Bill is known for serving as the principal legal counsel of technology company Microsoft and was also previously the Chairman of the Gates law firm. He helped Microsoft defend its intellectual property numerous times, most notably during the cases against Apple.
1. Richard Scruggs
Current Net Worth: $1.7 billion
Richard is well known for being the lawyer who successfully sued the asbestos industry on behalf of ill workers, helping remove asbestos from modern practices. He also represented hundreds of homeowners against insurance companies during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His numerous achievements were held back by his imprisonment in 2008 due to judicial bribery discovered the previous year. Despite that, he has retained a lot of his influence and success, returning to prominence during his release in 2014. His noteworthy career and extremely high net worth helped solidify his status at the top of the 10 most successful and influential lawyers in 2016.
