Harry M. Reasoner
AGE: 60
FIRM: Houston's Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

A specialist in complex business litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, securities, environmental and other corporate lawsuits -- and often involved in Texas-size legal battles; in 1989, was lead counsel in the ETSI pipeline antitrust case, in which he won a $345 million jury verdict, which was trebled -- the case ultimately settled for about $350 million; also has several significant wins as lead defense counsel, including the successful thwarting of a $300 million claim against client B.F. Goodrich; his record as appellate counsel includes the reversal of an $80 million plaintiffs' verdict against Unocal; recently represented Shell Oil Co. in the Washington, D.C., arbitration over the responsibility for payment of the $850 million plastic plumbing settlement; the results were confidential, but the losers said that the judgment would have an adverse effect on the company's earnings.

Janet Reno
AGE: 61
FIRM: Attorney general of the United States

The highest-ranking law enforcement officer in the country; former state's attorney in Dade County, Fla., where she aggressively pursued prosecutions of career criminals and helped establish the Miami Drug Court to provide alternative punishment for nonviolent offenders; early on as attorney general, drew criticism for approving the final assault on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas, but won praise for refusing to pass on blame; known for following her own principles, whether giving the Whitewater independent prosecutor authorization to pursue the Monica Lewinsky matter or denying requests to establish additional independent prosecutors for various probes; in the recent Elian Gonzalez standoff, typically ignored popular politics in her home state by forcibly removing the child. In past three years, Eric H. Holder Jr., the nation's first black deputy attorney general, has supervised the day-to-day operations of the Justice Department.

James F. Rill
AGE: 67
FIRM: Washington, D.C.'s Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White L.L.P.

Former assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Bush Justice Department, he revived a bureau that had all but died during the Reagan years; subsequently, in private practice, has been lead antitrust counsel in a series of mergers, including GTE Corp. in the Bell Atlantic Corp. merger and joint venture transactions, BellSouth in its acquisition of an interest in Qwest, Albertson's in its acquisition of American Stores, and ConAgra Inc. in its acquisition of Universal Foods Corp.; was lead counsel for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Inc. in the consumer protection matter before the Federal Trade Commission involving "Joe Camel" advertising; recently joined Howrey Simon as co-chair of the firm's antitrust practice group; formerly senior and name partner at Washington, D.C.'s Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott P.L.L.C.

Rachel F. Robbins
AGE: 49
FIRM: Managing director and general counsel of J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc.

Known as a force for regulatory change; as president and chair of the American Bankers Association Securities Association, took leading role in crafting a necessary consensus among the industry and banking and securities regulators in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; took a leadership role in pushing the Federal Reserve Board to reduce restrictions imposed by the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, which separated the banking and securities industries; well-regarded adviser on banking issues to public and private bodies; served on the Treasury Department's Advisory Commission on Financial Services; serves on the Securities Industry Association's Federal Regulation Committee.

Thomas A. Russo
AGE: 56
FIRM: New York's Lehman Bros. Inc.

Vice chairman and chief legal officer of Lehman Bros.; noted expert on commodities, securities and financial market regulation; the first director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Trading and Markets, where he wrote the rules of the agency; a leading futures expert; an industry spokesman who has pushed for regulatory reform and led the financial industry's movement calling for greater self-regulation; originated the idea for the Derivatives Policy Group, a forum in which six U.S. investment banks established voluntary guidelines governing their over-the-counter derivatives business; is a major contributor as well to Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group, an organization of the 12 largest investment banks, established to facilitate best practices in the financial services industry; continues to move further up in Lehman management: named vice chair in January.

Pamela A. Samuelson
AGE: 51
LAW SCHOOL: University of California at Berkeley School of Law

Key figure in intellectual property law and legal issues relating to software and the Internet; leading critic of attempts to extend copyright law into cyberspace; has written and spoken extensively about challenges to traditional legal regimes created by new information technologies; professor at both Berkeley's law school and its School of Information Management and Systems; also co-director and founder of the Boalt Hall Center for Law and Technology; in 1997, was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship; recently created, along with her husband, the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at Berkeley, aimed at combining high-technology law, public policy and consumer rights; also a fellow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Association of Computing Machinery.

Robert N. Sayler
AGE: 60
FIRM: Washington D.C.'s Covington & Burling

A key figure in corporate insurance coverage litigation; lead counsel to The Boeing Co. in the first environmental coverage case in which a major corporation prevailed, and co-lead counsel for asbestos-makers in litigation that ended in confirmation of more than $4 billion in coverage; in 2000, won a jury trial for 3M triggering $2 billion worth of insurance coverage for breast implant liabilities; pretrial counsel for a number of corporations seeking environmental cleanup coverage in cases that have not yet gone to trial; represented President Clinton in securing insurance coverage for the Paula Jones case; recently won summary judgment for Monsanto against Pioneer in a seed-war case; will serve as trial counsel for Bell & Howell in a patent infringement case scheduled for trial this December; just finished a three-year term as a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.

A. Daniel Scheinman
AGE: 37
FIRM: San Jose, Calif.'s Cisco Systems Inc.

Joined this high-tech company in 1992, when there was only one other attorney in-house; has overseen expansion of law and government affairs department to more than 80 people, including 25 lawyers; has participated in more than 40 acquisitions, including last month's proposed $6.1 billion purchase of ArrowPoint Communications Inc.; Cisco is the leading global supplier of Internet networking solutions, with a market capitalization second only to Microsoft; so far has been successful in keeping government regulators at bay. The primary outside lawyer on these deals has been Therese A. Mrozek, 43, managing partner of the Palo Alto, Calif., office of San Francisco's Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison L.L.P., who is now averaging two deals a month for Cisco and who also represents other high-tech clients in startups, venture capital financings, IPOs and other ventures.

Herbert F. Schwartz
AGE: 65
FIRM: New York's Fish & Neave

Prominent IP litigator; lead counsel in patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret cases for such clients as Polaroid, Compaq Computer, Motorola, Textron, Revlon and Coca-Cola; lead trial counsel for Aventis Pharmaceuticals and Transkaryotic Therapies in the landmark biotech patent case on trial in Boston; appellate specialist often called in when companies have lost trials or judgments; represented Digital in patent dispute with Intel which ended in $1.5 billion technology deal for client; was counsel for Polaroid in the largest-ever patent infringement judgment, $925 million against Kodak in 1991; in 1999, was selected patent litigator of the year by Managing Intellectual Property magazine; author of Patent Law and Practice, the official text of the Federal Judicial Center, cited extensively by numerous federal courts, including the Supreme Court.

Jerome J. Shestack
AGE: 75
FIRM: Philadelphia's Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen L.L.P.

Noted litigator and pre-eminent human rights attorney; former president of the American Bar Association, where he led campaign to establish an international criminal court to handle human rights abuses; organizing, at the initiative of Vice President Gore, a coalition of general counsel at major corporations and leading lawyers to fight global corruption; chairman of his firm's litigation department; represents such clients as Advanta, Comcast, CBS, Lloyds of London, USF&G and AT&T has won several significant victories for the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner, including a $140 million verdict in a bench trial in 1997; in 1999, while representing Advanta before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3d Circuit, won the first case interpreting the Safe Harbor Act in a securities class action; founder of the International Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights.

Tower C. Snow Jr.
AGE: 52
FIRM: San Francisco's Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison L.L.P.

A top defense attorney in securities class actions and a prominent proponent of changes in securities laws; noted for winning dismissals of class actions; also represents clients in investigations and proceedings initiated by the SEC and other state and federal and self-regulatory agencies; often called to testify before federal congressional and California Senate committees on securities litigation issues, as a high-tech industry spokesman for restrictions on strike suits; became chairman of Brobeck in 1998, only three years after joining the firm; in his first year, led firm to 26 percent rise in revenues and 44 percent increase in profits per partner; has cut costs while trimming attrition of key lawyers, increasing incentive compensation for junior lawyers and continuing a push that has established Brobeck as the go-to high-tech firm in many emerging technology markets.

Jerold S. Solovy
AGE: 70
FIRM: Chicago's Jenner & Block

An enduring leader in the movement for court reform in Chicago and Illinois; in the 1980s, led attempts to reform the Chicago court system after the Greylord scandal; a member of the Committee on the Courts for the 21st Century; has complex litigation practice and recently won a decision in Illinois Appellate Court in an eminent domain case declaring unconstitutional actions by a state-created development authority that took property from a landfill operator and transferred it to a privately owned motor speedway; lead counsel for General Electric Commercial Credit in upcoming trial against DirecTV, seeking damages of $150 million, and for GECC in an insurance coverage dispute pending in Delaware against CIGNA; lead trial counsel for Sunbeam in litigation seeking $120 million in disputed insurance coverage; a prominent supporter of pro bono work.

Larry W. Sonsini
AGE: 59
FIRM: Palo Alto, Calif.'s Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

King of the IPO and dominant lawyer in Silicon Valley; usually remains the chief outside counsel after handling an IPO; many of the companies he has taken public, such as Apple Computer, in 1980, or Seagate Technology Inc., in 1981, have become Fortune 500 mainstays; recently handled two of the largest IPOs ever, for Agilent Technologies Inc., in 1999, and Palm Inc., in 2000; lawyer of choice for most executives in the high-tech field, as well as investment bankers dealing with such companies; client list reads like a who's who of Silicon Valley, including Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Novell, LSI Logic, Pixar, Cypress Semiconductor, 3Com, Agilent Technologies and GoTo.com, as well as Apple; chairman of one of the nation's fastest-growing firms; he is also a director of Novell, Pixar, Brocade Communications Systems and Echelon Corp.

Bryan A. Stevenson
AGE: 40
FIRM: The Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama

A leading death penalty opponent and possibly the movement's most successful practitioner; he and his office have won 65 appeals of death sentences on grounds including racial bias, ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct; as executive director, has supervised all these appeals and was counsel of record on more than half; organized the Equal Justice Initiative after Congress eliminated funding for organizations handling capital punishment appeals; counsel of record for more than 100 people on death row; works as a consultant to death penalty litigators throughout the nation and conducts training sessions for lawyers handling death sentence appeals; assistant professor of law at New York University Law School, commuting to New York one day a week in the spring, and training NYU students in Montgomery, Ala.; awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 1995.

Kathleen Sullivan
AGE: 44
LAW SCHOOL: Stanford University Law School

Dean of the law school since early 1999; former professor of law at Harvard who joined the Stanford faculty in 1993; noted constitutional law specialist, often mentioned as a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court; civil rights and civil liberties litigator; has served as co-counsel in numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including the Bowers v. Hardwick unsuccessful challenge to Georgia sodomy law, and Fisher v. Berkeley, successfully defeating antitrust challenges to rent control ordinances; at cutting edge of conflicts of civil liberties protections and cyberspace; testified before Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of Americans for Computer Privacy, warning of adverse implications for the First and Fifth amendments contained in proposals for third-party encryption; member of the California committee examining laws against hate groups; lectures extensively and appears often on television as a commentator on legal issues.

<previous / next>