Top Ten Richest Lawyers In The World

So, who are they? Here's a fast look in the richest attorneys in the world, ranked from the lowest net value to the greatest. Please be aware that the individuals on this list are all practicing attorneys or judges. There are loads of additional "attorneys " using a substantially higher net worth, but they just possess a law degree and no longer use it.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr.: $12 million

Born in 1935, Jordan has enjoyed a very long law career that began after his graduation from Howard University. (In addition, he holds more than 70 honorary degrees from several colleges and universities.) He's currently the senior council, focusing on general council, organization, and global law, at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld LLP. His early career focused primarily on civil rights, while he later served as an adviser to President Clinton. Most of his fortune had been made by representing substantial businesses, such as Xerox and American Express, as well as spending some time as Wall Street banker.

Richard Scruggs: $1.7 billion

A 1976 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and also a prominent trial lawyer, Richard Scruggs is famous for his love of tobacco and asbestos cases as well as the fact that he won more than $1 billion in judgements against different companies. He was also highly involved in 2000's Ritalin class action suits, as well as the 2003 situation against Lehman Brothers which he won a $51 million verdict. But in 2007, he was accused of judicial bribery. In 2008, he pled guilty and finally served six years in federal prison. Today, at the age of 70, he's finished his sentence, and it has kept his large fortune.

Lynn Toler: $15 million

Better known as the judge from TV's Divorce Court as 2007, Lynn Toler previously served as the only municipal court judge in Cleveland Heights, OH for more than 8 years. After receiving her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984, she focused on civil law before getting municipal court judge. In this role, she was famous for enforcing nontraditional sentences, like writing essays. Besides presiding over divorce court, Lynn is the author of 3 books.

Willie E. Gary: $100 million

Nicknamed "The Giant Killer," Willie Gary has taken on a number of the nation's biggest corporations, such as Anheuser-Busch and Disney. He has won some of the largest settlements and jury awards in the U.S., including several cases valued at over $30 billion. A graduate of Shaw University, he's currently the managing director at Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson, and Gary, P.L.L.C., works as a motivational speaker, and has emerged as a legal analyst on "The Early Show. "

Best Lawyers In Canada

Dawn Devoe

General counselor, World Vision Canada, Toronto, Ont. Devoe is World Vision's primary legal advisor for its Child for Sale advocacy campaign aimed at ending child labour and human trafficking. As lead counsel for the Canadian discussions regarding World Vision's partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme, she has represented the organization in global partnership meetings in South Africa, Kenya, and the Philippines. This venture accounts for over $30 million of annual food aid programmed through World Vision Canada. With jobs in nearly 100 countries across the globe, Devoe manages a busy legal division and has managed to remain nimble and flexible. What Republicans needed to say: Amazing lawyer and individual. She not only has a love for the law, but also cares deeply for others and shows that in her job. Brilliant legal counsel, very inventive problem solver, able to incorporate legal and taxation legislation into a beneficial remedy to most parties, real estate coquitlam bc.

Murray Klippenstein

Founder, Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto, Ont. Back for the second year on the Top 25, Klippenstein's continuing representation of 13 members of this indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' population from El Estor, Guatemala, continues to make waves. Three related suits are ahead of the Ontario courts against Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals over the brutal killing of Adolfo Ich and the gang rape of 11 girls from Lote Ocho. In a precedent-setting ruling in July of 2013, an Ontario court decided that lawsuits can proceed to trial in Canada over the objections of Hudbay Minerals. At home he's also taking on the big men in a situation against Encana Corp. that's challenging the law and practice of hydraulic fracking in Canada. What voters had to say: Kudos for standing up for, upholding Canadian values, wherever we operate.

Lorne Waldman

Waldman & Associates, Toronto, Ont. Waldman is a great defender of refugees, immigrants, and human rights. He has won a number of significant victories, including healthcare for refugees in Canadian nurses for Refugee Care v. Canada along with a female 's best to wear the niqab whilst producing her citizenship oath in Ishaq v. Canada together with his associate Naseem Mithoowani. He also argued at the Supreme Court of Canada in J.P. v. Canada and G.J. v. Canada, that Canada's anti-human smuggling provisions should include asylum seekers engaging in mutual assistance. Along with Peter Edelmann, he acted on behalf of the CBA in the Harkat case before the SCC at 2014. On the global stage, he represents Mohamed Fahmy (alongside Amal Clooney), the Canadian journalist working for Al Jazeera. He's also been a vocal opponent of Bill C-51 and modifications to Canada's citizenship law. What Republicans needed to say: Lorne educated us all, particularly now, to preserve democracy and to preserve the rule of law.

Marie Henein

Senior spouse, Henein Hutchison LLP, Toronto, Ont. Considered one of Canada's best criminal defence lawyers, Henein is known for representing high-profile customers including former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi -- charged with seven counts of sexual assault, of which two have been dropped -- former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant, and junior hockey trainer David Frost. Most recently Henein has taken on the case of defence counsel colleague Leora Shemesh, who was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice by Peel Police. Henein is well-known in the profession as a go-to attorney for all high-profile criminal issues. She has an excellent history of wins versus losses and was part of the group that recently was successful in having John Salmon's certainty in a 1970s murder overturned. What voters had to say: Most visible leader of [the] criminal defence bar.

Fred Headon

Assistant general counsel, labour and employment law, Air Canada, Montreal, Que. As chairman of the Canadian Bar Association's Futures Initiative, Headon has contributed over 25 presentations to lawyers, law students, professors, librarians, law firm staff, and regulators from Toronto to Buenos Aires, Victoria to Halifax, in person and online. The Futures report has been released in August 2014 and its own recommendations place Headon squarely in the middle of several important discussions on topics essential to the profession. He continues to direct the Futures steering committee as it now turns its recommendations into actions. Headon is an essential component of the discussion on the future of this profession and he had been the very first in-house counselor to become the president of this CBA. What voters had to say: Brings energy and decency and the smarts to everything he does.

All Types Of Lawyers

Whether you are seeking the assistance of a lawyer or contemplating moving to law school, there's a general confusion in the population regarding what types of attorneys are there. Some people today assume that a lawyer is a lawyer, and so any attorney will be able to provide whatever legal services that they want. While technically this is true because a lawyer is licensed to practice law (minus a few exceptions in which additional licensing is required), the law is indeed vast and all-encompassing that it is impossible for one attorney to effectively provide legal services throughout each different field of law. Much like physicians, where there's a focus on a specific area of the body, specific age groups, or particular kinds of ailments and diseases, lawyers generally specialize in one, or a few related kinds of law. Below is a listing of 18 of the most frequent types of lawyers (in no specific order) and brief descriptions of each lawyers' law practice. "

Immigration Lawyer

An immigration lawyer will assist with anything about bringing a family member, employee, or individual into the USA from another nation. Most immigration lawyers' practices rely heavily on businesses since they require employment visas so as to bring employees to the USA from overseas. There are an array of forms to document with each government entity involved and complex laws to be followed to be able to apply a non-citizen.

Employment & Labor Lawyer

Employment & Labor lawyers are just as they seem; they manage issues relating to employment. They mainly deal with making sure businesses are complying with state and federal labor legislation. Much like corporate attorneys, you will find both litigation and transactional employment attorneys. Employment litigators would be the individuals who go to court to argue when/if a business violated the conditions of an employment contract or state legislation, while transactional employment lawyers deal more with drafting the employment documents themselves when a employee is being hired. Some employment lawyers do both litigation and transactional work.

Family Lawyer

You probably could have guessed what a family lawyer does. A family lawyer handles anything having to perform lead family issues. Sometimes this includes family or estate planning, but usually family lawyers handle things including divorce, custody battles, legal arrangements, and other issues surrounding marriage and kids. While some only focus on divorce, most family attorneys cover all areas of law.

Traffic Attorney

These attorneys are ordinarily quite high-volume attorneys in the meaning that they have a tendency to get a lot customers on a daily basis and they simply work one or a couple of small jobs for each and every one. Traffic attorneys will go to court on your own behalf to fight traffic citations or give you advice about whether you have an opportunity to escape a speeding ticket or violation for running a red light. Sometimes traffic attorneys are also criminal attorneys that can fight your DUI or DWI too.

Legal Malpractice or Professional Duty Lawyer

This is a very market subset of attorneys, and there aren't that many that focus on those areas of law as their specialization. Legal counsel or Professional Responsibility lawyers usually sue or defend lawyers when an attorney has violated their responsibilities to a client (i.e. dedicated malpractice) or if a lawyer needs defense against a former customer who is suing them. Lawyers, very similar to doctors, accountants, government officials, etc., have a rigorous set of industry specific rules they need to abide by while practicing law. When they actually violate or are accused of violating one of these principles, professional responsibility lawyers and legal malpractice attorneys come into play. Occasionally these lawyers are used before anything really goes wrong just to make sure what is about to be accomplished by a lawyer is really allowed.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Criminal defense attorneys help protect individuals accused of committing a crime against prosecution by the authorities, with the objective of reducing their sentencing or helping them remain out of jail. The crimes managed by criminal defense attorneys vary from little offenses such as shoplifting to serious crimes like DUI, drug trafficking, assault and battery, or even murder. Many attorneys who practice criminal defense had past experience working on the prosecution side at the Office of the District Attorney (DA), either while at law school or later.
So, now you understand a bit more about what kinds of attorneys there are. If you are looking to employ a lawyer, it's important to work out how to find the right lawyer for your requirements. Although there are numerous overlapping practice areas, each kind of law differs and you'll need to be certain to find an attorney that specializes in the sort of legal service you need. Doing otherwise is risky and can cause unnecessary legal problems in the future.

Top 10 Lawyers In Usa

So, who are they? Here is a fast look in the wealthiest attorneys in the world, ranked from the lowest net value to the greatest. Please note that the people on this list are practicing lawyers or judges. There are plenty of additional "attorneys " with a substantially higher net worth, but they just have a law degree and no longer use it.

Richard Scruggs: $1.7 billion

A 1976 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and a prominent trial attorney, Richard Scruggs is famous for his love of asbestos and tobacco cases as well as the fact he won more than $1 billion in judgements against different companies. He was also highly involved in 2000's Ritalin class action lawsuits, in addition to the 2003 situation against Lehman Brothers for which he won a $51 million verdict. But in 2007, he was accused of judicial bribery. In 2008, he pled guilty and eventually served six years in prison. Now, in age 70, he's completed his sentence, and it has kept his large fortune.

Wichai Thongtang: $1.1 billion

Thought of by many in the industry to become "one of the best names in the profession from across the planet," Wichai Thongtang is a powerful lawyer in Thailand. After graduating from Thammasat University in 1970he went into corporate law, where he represented a number of leading Thai executives and corporations and took the chance to learn about the stock market and investing. In addition to his law career, Thongtang is the Chairman of Cable Thai Holding PLC and owns 15 percent of Dusit Medical, a Bangkok healthcare firm.

Joe Jamail: $1.7 billion

Although he passed away at the age of 90 at December 2015, Joe Jamail makes this list because he was the wealthiest practicing attorney in the USA at the time of his passing. Often known as the "King of Torts," he represented Pennzoil at a 1985 lawsuit against rival Texaco. His contingency fee was $335 following the courts decided in Pennzoil's favor. The 1953 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law was a former marine who had a longstanding reputation in the court to be abrasive, rude, and vulgar. But outside the court, he was known for his generous philanthropy.

William Lerach: $900 million

Although he was disbarred in 2009 for his participation in a kickback scheme, William Lerach had a rewarding career as a corporate lawyer with a specialty in private securities class actions lawsuits for over 30 years, which is the way he amassed his considerable fortune. Nicknamed the "King of Pain" and often known as the most dreaded attorney in American during his heyday, Lerach, a University of Pittsburg School of Law graduate, holds the record for the largest sum ever recovered at a group of securities class actions lawsuits for its $7.12 billion decision he obtained against Enron.

Roy Black: $100 million

Still another civil and criminal defense attorney, Roy Black, a graduate of the University of Miami, is the senior partner at Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf. For over 40 years, he's represented high profile customers, including William Kennedy Smith (acquitted on rape charges), Albertson's, Inc., and Helio Castroneves. Known by most in the industry for getting "the best national standing in Florida," he acts as a legal analyst on "The Today Show" and "Good Morning America" and instructs advanced criminal signs in the University of Miami.

John Branca: $50 million

A graduate of the UCLA School of Law, John Branca has had a lengthy career as an entertainment and corporate lawyer with a focus on representing roll and rock acts and independent investors. He's represented over 30 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is about pretty much every list of premier entertainment lawyers in the world. On a side note, he serves as the co-executor of Michael Jackson's estate.

Becoming A Lawyer

TIP 18 Get it Off Your Chest

Clients, notably matrimonial customers, often need a way to tell their story to other people. Think about different forums in which a customer can get it off his chest. Consider using psychologists, social workers, mediation, Dispute Resolution Officer hearings, Judicial Dispute Resolution conferences and arbitration as ways to permit a customer to unload.

TIP 6 Mutual Consultation

Similar to the tip above on being exclusive, another strategy to exclusivity is to make it clear in the very first interview with a potential family law client that it is a mutual consultation. In other words, the client is consulting you and you are consulting with with the client to be able to find out whether the two of you're a fit. This makes it much simpler to say no if, at the close of the interview, any of those hairs on the back of the neck have gone upward. Among the great frustrations in household law is behaving for clients. Most high conflict cases involve individuals. They can be the ruin of your life and make practicing more difficult than it must be. You need to make it apparent on a first consultation that the purpose of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the attorney and the client and that there's to be no duty on either side to either retain the lawyer or take a retainer. Accordingly, it follows that when it becomes apparent in the very first interview that there are a number of reasons why you shouldn't take the case, you have to learn how to say "no" at the very earliest possible phase.

TIP 17 Soothing Your Clientele

When your customer has quite a difficult problem which is more emotional than legal, consider using the phrase "That's a really difficult problem to resolve". For instance, where your customer is complaining or the other side is saying things about your client, employing this phrase helps clients to proceed with the difficulties at hand. Lawyers have reported that the phrase that was simple really works.

TIP 20 Be Genuine

The most important component of lawyering is your capability to connect with your clientele. Treat them just like friends and show your interest. Be real. Lawyers that do this are much more happy, as are their clients.

TIP 4 "Getting Directions"

Inexperienced counsel often use the excuse that they cannot make a determination on a matter until they "get directions" in their customer. This is a cop-out. Not the client, the lawyer, has the sole discretion with regard to granting accommodations which do not influence the merits of this case or prejudice the client's rights to another side. This would consist of requests for time expansion, provision for disclosure, adjournments in a different form than requested or procedural issues.

Ask Legal Questions For Free

Do you see a prejudice against people who attend law school later in life?

In short, yes, later-in-life pupils can sometimes feel a little out of place with the younger crowd. But they have a distinct advantage that a large part of the straight-through students don't--a bit more life in the mirror. That experience will assist from day one in law school. Professors will rely on and seek out those pupils to draw on that knowledge along with the based work ethic of the student. As soon as a résumé is reviewed by a law firm in the student, it will have assurance the graduate is prepared to add value to its customers and the firm and prepared beyond the scholarly world. Go forth and conquer, regardless of what period in life you decided to make your way into this honorable profession.

Did any courses prove particularly useful as you started practicing?

In addition to skills courses, any hands-on experience you can find--if it's functioning in a legal practice, part time in a small law firm, or clerking for a judge--can help in training. My two places, one in a small business and one in a large firm, gave me an opportunity to see depositions and court cases and, most of all, to understand what to expect at work.

Was there anything you wished you'd have done otherwise in law school that you didn't understand before you started to practice?

I wish I'd worked in a law firm, even for a semester. It is difficult to go from a salaried job to a low-paying law enforcement job. But I wish I had. It would have been nice to get some expertise after being admitted to the bar, since I opened my own practice shortly. Even things as simple as how to establish a client file, the ideal approach to charge, and how to assign work to employees would have been nice to learn beforehand rather than on the fly.

What do you like most about your project? Least?

I started out in the corporate and securities department of a large law firm, but left to start an immigration practice after four decades. I liked the firm and worked with a number of people, but the job wasn't interesting to me and not fulfilling. In fact, had I never moved outside to start an immigration clinic, I become instruction and would have gone back to school to pursue a PhD. As for what I enjoy about my job, here are a few things:

What is the most effective means to have work?

My law firm has been receptive to accommodating my requests for flex time and a reduced-hour schedule. A couple of proactive partners shifted my caseload to allow time at the workplace and with chances to work from home to me when I returned from my first leave. My firm accepted my proposition that was part-time when I returned from my pregnancy leave. In my family situation was different, I am confident a part-time schedule could have functioned for at least several decades.

Do you must push yourself to the ground the first few years of training to make it?

While the practice of law can make it hard to enroll in a course that meets at 6 pm every Thursday for six weeks, it does provide the flexibility to be outside the workplace when things come up--even during the middle of the work day--provided your job is finally getting done.