Roger S. Aaron
AGE: 58
FIRM: New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P.

Senior partner in charge of Skadden's corporate practice areas; a member of the firm's policy committee; a premier rainmaker -- his client list reads like an excerpt from the Fortune 500 and includes such U.S.-based companies as America Online Inc., Compaq Computer Corp., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. and Viacom Inc.; also such foreign companies as Alcatel, Aventis, Celanese A.G. and Montedison S.p.A.; heavily involved in the investment banking and investment industry; clients include The Chase Manhattan Corp., Credit Suisse First Boston; Goldman, Sachs & Co., Lazard Freres & Co. L.L.P., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Salomon Bros. Inc.; involved in some of the largest deals in recent years, including representing Mannesmann A.G. in its $186 billion merger with Vodafone AirTouch P.L.C.; representing Mobil Corp. in its $80 billion merger with Exxon Corp. and AOL in its $4.28 billion acquisition of Netscape Communications. Another prominent Skadden Arps M&A partner, Peter A. Atkins, is representing Warner-Lambert Co. in its $90 billion acquisition by Pfizer Inc.; he also represented Bell Atlantic Corp. in its merger with GTE Corp.

Cesar Alvarez
AGE: 52
FIRM: Miami's Greenberg Traurig P.A.

Since his election as president and chief executive officer in 1997, Greenberg Traurig has continued its rapid growth, with more than 625 attorneys in 18 offices across the country, up from 300 attorneys in eight offices when he took over; first and only Hispanic managing partner at a major national firm; extensive pro bono practice includes work representing Cuban refugees detained at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba; active community volunteer as trustee of Miami Children's Hospital, the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and St. Thomas University School of Law; has taken more than 40 companies public and served as primary counsel to several publicly traded companies.

Peter G. Angelos
AGE: 70
FIRM: Baltimore's Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos P.C.

Lead attorney at Baltimore's most prominent plaintiffs' law firm, which has grown from a one-person shop to 100 attorneys in 13 branch offices, including those in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and elsewhere in Maryland; lead lawyer for the Maryland attorney general in the tobacco litigation; recently announced that he is taking on the lead paint industry; pushing Maryland Legislature to modify laws making it easier to collect damages from the paint industry; made his money and reputation representing plaintiffs in asbestos litigation -- his firm is still one of the top plaintiffs' firms nationally in such litigation; income from these suits enabled him to buy the Baltimore Orioles baseball team; considered one of the architects of the rebirth of Baltimore.

Frederick M. Baron
AGE: 52
FIRM: Dallas' Baron & Budd P.C.

President-elect of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; representing plaintiffs exclusively in asbestos and toxic torts actions, has won countless substantial verdicts and settlements; in recent years has turned his attention to environmental and toxic torts lawsuits, earning several significant settlements, including one for $100 million in an Arizona groundwater case and another, for $20 million, for banana plantation workers in Costa Rica sprayed by pesticides; in 1998, was lead counsel for the largest verdict ever in a radiation exposure claim -- $36.7 million, in Pittsburgh -- although the trial court set aside the judgment; led and financed successful challenges to the Fibreboard and Amchem asbestos class action settlements on the basis of the agreements' limited rights, representation and possible payouts to future claimants; final decisions in these cases have had a significant effect on other proposed settlements; has been leading plaintiffs' bar in its fight against tort reform; on board of directors of Gore campaign.

William P. Barr
AGE: 50
FIRM: Irving, Texas' GTE Corp.

Designated executive vice president and general counsel of Verizon Communications Corp., the entity resulting from the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp.; longtime leading strategist and advocate for local phone companies in the ever-growing battle over rights to markets; argued Supreme Court case resulting in decision invalidating FCC rules ordering Baby Bells to open up their networks to competitors; leading the battle to preserve open and competitive Internet; attorney general in the Bush administration whose close ties with key members of Congress were considered critical in assuring provisions favorable to GTE in deregulation.

Fred H. Bartlit Jr.
AGE: 67
FIRM: Chicago's Bartlit Beck Berman Palenchar & Scott

Was head of the litigation practice at Chicago's Kirkland & Ellis when, in 1994, he left to assemble and lead a firm of litigation stars; considered a visionary for changing the way defense trial lawyers bill, establishing set rates with contingency fees for success; has a long history of big wins; was lead counsel in 1996 in an antitrust case against United Technologies Corp. that resulted in zero damages to his client after the plaintiff spent more than $50 million pursuing the action; defending vacuum cleaner company Bissell Inc. in patent litigation filed by rivals Hoover Co. and NL Industries Inc. in multistate litigation over alleged injuries to children from lead paint chips; increasingly represents corporations as plaintiffs in massive litigation, including Bayer Corp. in an upcoming patent case over the antibiotic Cipro; recently hired by the Canadian government to handle litigation in a civil racketeering action against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.; in 1999 established The Fred Bartlit Center for Trial Strategy at Northwestern University School of Law.

Ralph H. Baxter Jr.
AGE: 53
FIRM: San Francisco's Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe L.L.P.

Leading advocate and adviser for corporations on sexual harassment and wrongful termination; writes and lectures extensively; leader of massive, profitable growth of his firm; Orrick's average per-partner profits have tripled and the number of attorneys has risen from 235 in four offices to 550 in 10 since he became manager in 1989; firm is frequently ranked as one of the world's leading finance and technology law firms; instrumental in creating a pioneering relationship with Menlo Park, Calif.'s Venture Law Group firm, serving startup and mature high-tech companies; former co-chair of ABA's Committee on Employee Rights and Responsibilities.

Richard I. Beattie
AGE: 61
FIRM: New York's Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Chairman of the executive committee of Simpson Thacher and a specialist in M&A, leveraged buyouts and corporate law and finance; was AOL's lead outside counsel for its $184 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc. this year; recently represented Credit Suisse First Boston, financial adviser to Chrysler Corp. in its merger with Daimler-Benz; long record of public service -- during the Carter administration, served as general counsel at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and was in charge of organizing the U.S. Department of Education; chairman of the board and founder of New Visions for Public Schools; on the boards of the National Women's Law Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Robert S. Bennett
AGE: 60
FIRM: Washington, D.C., office of New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P.

Head of Skadden's international government enforcement group as well as the civil litigation practice in Washington, D.C.; considered the lawyer of first resort in Washington for high-profile white-collar crime defendants; represents individuals and corporations in civil matters; in civil litigation, recently represented the family of Abraham Zapruder in dispute with government over value of the film of President Kennedy's assassination; other civil clients include The Boeing Co., PG&E Corp., 25 major banks and a consortium of more than 50 energy and utility companies; chief counsel to President Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment civil lawsuit; first received national attention as counsel to the committee in the 1980 Abscam hearings.

Janet L. Benshoof
AGE: 53
FIRM: Center for Reproductive Law & Policy, New York

Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project for 15 years until 1992, when she founded the center, which has been in the forefront of every major reproductive rights issue, with an 80 percent success rate in court; together with Litigation Director Simon Heller, argued Stenberg v. Carhart before the Supreme Court, seeking to void state partial-birth abortion laws; scheduled to appear before the justices to argue critical Fourth Amendment case involving prosecutions of pregnant drug users for prenatal child abuse; other notable center successes include a win in Montana Supreme Court allowing physicians' assistants to perform abortions and a ruling in Florida confirming the right of minors to get abortions without parental consent; the center has cases pending in more than 30 states and legal projects in 51 countries.

Steve W. Berman
AGE: 45
FIRM: Seattle's Hagens Berman

Expert in class actions and multiplaintiff litigation; lead counsel or co-lead counsel in high profile cases, including the Washington Public Power Supply System litigation, whose settlement exceeded $850 million, the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation and the Louisiana Pacific Corp. siding litigation; represented the Washington state attorney general in the tobacco litigation and was considered critical in the capitulation of Liggett, which set off the release of previously privileged documents; special assistant attorney general in tobacco litigation for 13 other states; recently hired to defend Microsoft in a series of antitrust lawsuits; lead lawyer in massive securities fraud action against The Boeing Co.; is also involved in Holocaust litigation and qui tam whistleblower litigation.

Sheila L. Birnbaum
AGE: 60
FIRM: New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P.

Top rainmaker and leading litigator for defendants in products liability lawsuits; established and now heads Skadden's products liability section; frequently called in to determine strategy when companies face class actions or mass torts litigation; considered a wizard at settlements and has argued many successful appeals, including a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving medical monitoring and another in New York state's highest court on the insurability of punitive damages verdicts; was national counsel to Dow Corning Corp. in the breast implant litigation; represents Georgia-Pacific Corp. in a class action involving claims by nearly 1 million plaintiffs and represents Medtronic Inc. in its pacemaker lead products liability litigation; chair of the New York State Commission on Fiduciary Appointments and former executive director of the 2nd Circuit Task Force for Racial, Ethnic and Gender Fairness.

Jonathan D. Blake
AGE: 61
FIRM: Washington, D.C.'s Covington & Burling

Instrumental in the development and use of innovative communications technologies and services, including digital television, broadband, the Internet, wireless and satellites; a key figure in shaping U.S. policy for digital television and in the development of the legal framework for cellular, PCS and wireless cable services; co-chair of the ABA Telecommunications Committee, trustee of the U.S. Council for International Business; Euromoney's International Financial Law Review called him one of the world's leading communications lawyers; clients include The Washington Post Co. and Microsoft; as managing partner, has led Covington's recent significant expansion.

Thomas Hale Boggs Jr.
AGE: 59
FIRM: Washington, D.C.'s Patton Boggs L.L.P.

The foremost lawyer-lobbyist on Capitol Hill, with connections to both political parties; Vanity Fair recently called him "the living heart of Washington money culture"; handles legislative and regulatory matters for a broad range of clients; chief outside consultant to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and an integral part of ATLA's success in stalling substantial national tort reform legislation; despite this, has a full roster of corporate clients; representing AOL on public policy issues and MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Inc. on policy implications of their mergers.

David Boies
AGE: 59
FIRM: Armonk, N.Y.'s Boies, Schiller & Flexner L.L.P.

Lead trial counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice in the antitrust action against Microsoft; even before this was considered one of the best trial lawyers in complex litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants; during the savings and loan crisis, was counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in its litigation, recovering more than $1 billion from Drexel Burnham Lambert, Michael Milken and related defendants; clients include CBS Inc., IBM, Texaco Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Continental Airlines Inc., Georgia-Pacific Corp., the New York Yankees, Du Pont and FPL Group Inc.; big wins include the recovery of $200 million from UAL Corp. and AMR Corp. for client Continental Airlines on a claim alleging antitrust and RICO violations; recently represented comedian Garry Shandling in $100 million dispute with his former manager, which ended in a confidential settlement; also representing the purchasers of vitamins in antitrust price-fixing claim against vitamin manufacturers.

Arthur Bryant
AGE: 45
FIRM: Trial Lawyers for Public Justice P.C.

One of the most successful public interest attorneys; has won major victories and established precedents in areas such as constitutional law, toxic torts, civil rights, consumer protection and mass torts; won far-reaching victory in Title IX case against Brown University and subsequently negotiated a settlement with Brown that fostered equal treatment for women in intercollegiate athletics -- a win that has had a major impact on colleges across the country; as executive director, led his organization's class action-abuse prevention project, which has successfully challenged class action settlements, including one proposed Mississippi settlement involving Bank of America Corp. that would have deprived all Mississippi class members of the right to opt out; supervised environmental lawsuits to stop mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia and won the largest Clean Air Act settlement in New Jersey history.

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