List 0f the10 Best Lawyers In The World
List of the most famous Lawyers in history, some recognized for their achievements, others famous for their professional life or scandals. “Make a law, set a trap”, says the saying, and if there is something full of stories it is about rules and crimes.
Justice has accompanied humanity since the beginning of its existence and lawyers are its main protagonists. Responsible for legal defense, lawyers are present in the world playing a vital role for the rights of all human beings.
In the Ten Commandments of the “Lawyer’s Commandments”, the Uruguayan jurist Eduardo Couture states: love the profession, study to stay informed, fight, forget grudges, think, be faithful, loyal, patient, tolerant and work.
There have been lawyers throughout history, many of them have come to occupy the presidency of the most important countries in the world, to become social leaders, to govern the main institutions of the planet and even become stars of show business.
You have to go back to ancient Rome and Greece to meet the first lawyers in action. In 106 BC, Marco Tulio Cicero was one of the first to mark this profession, with an innovative and passionate style.
“If there were no bad men, there would be no good lawyers,” said Charles Dickens to define the work of these legal professionals.
Some proverbs consider them bad neighbors and compare them to painters, as the only ones capable of changing something from white to black. The truth is that good lawyers are often needed.
At the risk of being unfair to the absent, here I show you a ranking of the most remembered lawyers in history.
List Of the 10 Best Lawyers In The World
1- Nelson Mandela
One of the most prominent personalities in history for his fight for racial equality in South Africa. Mandela was born in 1918, died in 2013 and spent 27 years, and a few months, imprisoned between 1962 and 1990 by a regime that imposed racial segregation.
He began his studies for free and ended them almost two decades later in prison. However, his career as a lawyer began long before he graduated when he shocked the world with a three-hour plea (known as “I am ready to die”), inspired by Fidel Castro himself “History will absolve me”.
In 1952 he founded the first African law firm in his country, which he defined as: “A place where black people are not rejected or deceived, where they can feel safe being represented by people of their own color”.
After 27 years in prison, where he had to endure all kinds of torture (such as working in a limestone quarry without glasses, which caused severe visual impairment), he regained his freedom and became one of the leaders in securing the pacification of South Africa. He was president of his country between 1994 and 1998 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
There is a long list of books and films that tell their story, including his autobiography. We highlight the film Invictus, based on the true novel by John Carlin.
2- John Gregory Branca
Branca, in addition to being a lawyer, is almost a rock star, not because he dedicates himself to music but because most of his career has been representing great musicians and bands.
Artists represented include The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, Carlos Santana, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Earth, Wind And Fire, John Fogerty and The Doors.
In addition, his clients include Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, magazines such as Forbes, Penthouse and Playboy or Mike Tyson. And he was the one who financed the video Thriller by Michael Jackson, the most expensive when it was released in 1982.
It is a source of consultation and advice for the major financial movements of large companies and in 2016 received the “Lawyer of the Year” award by Billboard Magazine.
3- Robert George Kardashian
This lawyer is known for two reasons: representing O.J Simpson and being the father of Kourtney’s sisters, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Hollywood stars.
Together with Robert Leslie Shapiro, they defended the former football player, accused of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, in one of the most exciting court cases in the United States.
The verdict was followed by half of the American population. There, the judges declared the athlete not guilty, that two years would be sentenced for the crime.
4- Barack Obama
He was the first black president of the United States. After winning the election in 2008, he was re-elected in 2012 and completed two terms in the White House.
A graduate of the prestigious Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama began his political career as a young man in Chicago.
Possessing a unique charisma, he conquered the masses of his country and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, for “his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples, standing out for his vision of a world without nuclear weapons”.
5- Carlos Saavedra Lama
Perhaps his name is surprising on this list, but he was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize, when the Swedish Academy awarded him the Peace Prize in 1936 for his mediation in the bloody Chaco War, between Paraguay and Bolivia.
6- Sarmiza Bilcescu
She was the first woman in Europe to earn a law degree from the University of Paris in 1890. She later reaffirmed her triumph when she became the first woman to earn a doctorate in Law in the world.
She will be remembered for her fight for women’s rights. In 1915 she began a campaign to offer education to women who could not complete their studies when they were expelled from the system.
7- Mahatma Gandhi
Another fighter for peace and freedom in his country, like Mandela. Since 1918 he has been at the forefront of the Indian nationalist movement, with which his country fought for independence.
He will be remembered for his innovative methods in fighting the violence of the British government in turn. His advocacy of non-violence, saw him fight with hunger strikes, marches and demonstrations.
He was imprisoned for his ideals, but in 1943 he achieved his goal of making India independent. Gandhi thought that capital was not more important than work, he was a vegetarian and rejected any form of animal abuse.
8- Margaret Thatcher
One of the famous personalities on this list, known as the Iron Lady, their ideals can be placed on the opposite side of Gandhi and Mandela.
She graduated from Oxford and became the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position she held between 1979 and 1990, becoming the person who led the country during the last century.
Her strong character and ideals led her to win many enemies in the world. She promoted the privatization of state companies, education and social assistance in her country.
The events that most impressed the world were the Malvinas War, the South Atlantic islands with Argentina, and her refusal to form the European Union.
9 – Alexis de Tocqueville
Considered the father of democracy, this French lawyer developed his career during the 19th century. His ideas about equality and his warnings about the dangers of tyranny influenced many thinkers and political leaders, who changed the world.
“I envision a society in which everyone, who sees the law as his job, loves it and submits to it without effort,” is his most famous phrase.
10- Mikhail Gorbachev
He was the head of state of the Soviet Union between 1988 and 1991. In 1990 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle for peace during the Cold War, the largest non-war conflict of the 20th century.
