Best Lawyers Of All Time

So, who are they? Here is a quick look in the richest lawyers in the entire world, ranked from the lowest net value to the greatest. Please note that the individuals on this list are practicing attorneys or judges. There are loads of additional "lawyers" with a substantially higher net value, but they simply possess a law degree and no longer use it.

Jane Wanjiru Michuki: $60 million

Educated in the Kenya School of Law and Warwick University, Jane Wanjiru Michuki is currently a managing partner at Kimani & Michuki Advocate, a corporate law firm in Nairobi, Kenya that represents Many of the biggest companies in Kenya, such as Equity Group Holdings Limited. In addition to her law career, she's the biggest female stockholder on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, which is where a good bit of her net worth stems from.

David Boies: $20 million

Currently serving as the chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, David Boies formerly served as Chief Counsel for the US Senate. He graduated from Yale University in 1966 and almost immediately made a name for himself. He amassed his fortune by representing a number of large corporations, such as IBM, Napster, George Steinbrenner (owner of the NY Yankees), CBS, and the NBA Players Association throughout the 2011 NBA lockout. According to Fortune magazine, he's "corporate America's number-one hired gun. "

Judy Sheindlin: between $150 million and $250 million

Best known for being a no-nonsense TV judge, Judge Judy earns $47 million annually. A 1965 graduate of New York Law School, Judge Sheindlin was initially a corporate attorney, though she quickly grew tired of it and choose to become a family court prosecutor. In 1982, she was appointed as a criminal court judge, where she gained a reputation for a "tough" judge and presided over more than 20,000 cases. This, together with various books she wrote, caught the attention of TV executives and eventually resulted in her TV show. In addition, she is the author of seven books and has served as legal counsel on various TV shows.

Richard Scruggs: $1.7 billion

A 1976 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and also a prominent trial attorney, Richard Scruggs is best known for his love of asbestos and tobacco cases and 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 case against Lehman Brothers which he won a $51 million conclusion. But in 2007, he was accused of judicial bribery. In 2008, he pled guilty and eventually served six years in federal prison. Now, in the age of 70, he has completed his sentence, and it has retained his large fortune.

William Lerach: $900 million

Though he was disbarred in 2009 for his participation in a kickback scheme, William Lerach had a lucrative career as a corporate lawyer with a specialty in private securities class action suits for over 30 decades, which is the way he gathered his considerable fortune. Nicknamed the "King of Pain" and often referred to as the most feared lawyer in American through his heyday, Lerach, a University of Pittsburg School of Law graduate, holds the record for the largest sum ever regained in a group of securities class action suits for its $7.12 billion decision he received against Enron.