For centuries, certain Americans have
had an outsized role in shaping our legal system. Here is a look at the
most influential lawyers throughout history.
1. Abraham Lincoln
Talk about pulling yourself up by your
bootstraps. Well before our country’s most storied president entered the
White House, he opened his own shop as a self-taught country lawyer.
2. Thurgood Marshall
Arguably the most influential attorney of
the past century, Thurgood Marshall played a formative role in
transforming the nation’s law to fight racial injustice. A lawyer in the
trenches of the NAACP, his biggest victory was Brown v. Board of
Education in 1954, which ended racial segregation in U.S. schools.
3. William Jennings Bryan
Thrice-defeated presidential candidate
William Jennings Bryan never failed to captivate a nation throughout his
career. Even though he was one of the most influential populists of his
time, Bryan is perhaps best known for his anti-evolutionary stance
during the 1920s Scopes monkey trial, as depicted in the film Inherit
the Wind.
4. John Marshall
While chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court, Marshall established the precedent of judicial review, which
allowed the federal courts to strike down laws enacted by Congress or
actions implemented by the executive branch.
5. Johnnie Cochran
Who doesn’t know Johnnie Cochran? Perhaps
more famous than influential, Cochran is best known for his
larger-than-life representation of O.J. Simpson but also successfully
represented well-known clients such as Michael Jackson and Sean “Puffy”
Combs.
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