Greatest Lawyers of All Time?

A bit of fun and inspiration for all you wannabe lawyers out there...

Here is my list of former law students or practicing lawyers who I think have left an indelible mark on history because of their achievements outside of the law, usually because of their progressive views and/or commitment to liberty, rationality, equality, human dignity, the rule of law and justice:

Francis Bacon
Maximilien de Robespierre
Thomas Jefferson
Abe Lincoln
Belva Ann Lockwood
Mahatma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela
Paul Robeson
Helena Kennedy QC
Tony Blair
Barack Obama

What do y'all think?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Nameless Ghoul

Essentially, a list of the greatest people who happened to be lawyers.

Cicero has inspired countless people to want to advocate in the courts.

Reply 4

Nameless Ghoul

Original post by ByronicHero

Cicero has inspired countless people to want to advocate in the courts.

Oh, of course he has. People were not sufficiently persuaded by the promise of a well-paying vocation and impacting the lives of all who live in society, so they turned to Cicero as extra motivation. Pretentious nonsense.

"Cicero inspired me" is said to get people through university interviews and nothing more.

Reply 5

_Fergo

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

Erm what? Have you even read ANY of his accounts?

Big words for someone who barely knows him by name.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

Nameless Ghoul

Original post by *Stefan*

Erm what? Have you even read ANY of his accounts?

Big words for someone who barely knows him by name.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ahh, the youthful exuberance of a fresher must be admired. Still clinging to the interview mantras, I see? Tell me, please some more, about how much you admire Lord Bingham's The Rule of Law. Really, I wanna hear it.

Reply 7

ByronicHero

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

My best friend, while studying classics at university, was sufficiently taken by Cicero to pursue a law career. Maybe he doesn't exist, I will be sure to ask him next time I see him.

Reply 8

_Fergo

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

As expected, a big load of BS because you want to show others you "know stuff".

I haven't read the entirety of the book, but I did like what I read on what the rule of law is and what it's elements/requirements should be.

How is that relevant to Cicero being one of the greatest lawyers of all time?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 9

curi0us0range

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

Essentially, a list of the greatest people who happened to be lawyers.

@Nameless Ghoul you're probably right lol. Though it is a point worth debating - did these people achieve great things in spite of their legal qualifications or because of them?

Reply 10

curi0us0range

Considering Cicero's impact on renaissance humanism, and specifically Locke and Hume in this country, maybe it was a grave omission not to have included him in my first list. I've not read any of his original work, only Plutarch's account of him.

Reply 11

BrokenLife

My personal favourite has to be Mehdi Hassan. His debates are oh so perfect! :h:

Reply 12

Nameless Ghoul

Original post by *Stefan*

How is that relevant to Cicero being one of the greatest lawyers of all time?

It is not, for that is not the point which was raised or the point I responded to. Pay more attention to the thread and the words within it and perhaps then these embarrassing misunderstandings shall not occur.

Original post by *Stefan*

As expected, a big load of BS because you want to show others you "know stuff".

Ironic that you call me out on demonstrating I know stuff, when you tried to put me down by saying I don't know the works of Cicero (and by extension implying you did). A nice little case of projection, I daresay?

Reply 13

curi0us0range

Wow I didn't intend for this to descend into an all-out rant fest quite so quickly...

Reply 14

NolofinwÃ«

Keeping within the bounds of lawyers whose notable achievements lie within the law, and using the potentially unsound measure of ‘fame for impact on the law’ to assess greatness, I’ll put a few names forward, all of whom have finished their careers in their particular famous role.

Greatest overall impact:
Tribonian/Ulpian

Within English Law, impact is mainly limited to people who have become successful senior judges (in no particular order, and without any claim to being exhaustive):
Lord Coke
Lord Mansfield
Lord Blackburn
Lord Lindley
Lord Atkin
Lord Wilberforce
Lord Diplock
Lord Denning
Lord Bingham
Lord Hoffmann

There are also a long list of former academics I could name, but to shorten it drastically:
(most people who have their name on a respected textbook which is now edited by someone else)
Lord Blackstone
David Daube
Peter Birks
Etc.

In terms of the debate that is raging around Cicero, he was in my opinion a good trial lawyer given the style of presentation of the late Republic and the litigants with whom he worked. However, in terms of impact on the law, the dubiously attributed Rhetorica ad Herrenium aside, I don’t see it as that great. I think it is still perfectly legitimate, however, for a law student/practitioner to draw inspiration from him if one wants to do so, because to me inspiration seems to be a highly subjective outlook.

Reply 15

_Fergo

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

It's so funny when people who can't even argue resort to nonsense.

You asked that question directly to me, after I questioned your stance to the previous poster's assertion that Cicero was the greatest lawyer of all time.

So my question is very much on point. Your attempt to evade it, however? Mah.

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

So, you're saying that you do know his work? Evidently not. And yes, I do know his work, considering I studied it.

Done yet?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Original post by *Stefan*

You asked that question directly to me, after I questioned your stance to the previous poster's assertion that Cicero was the greatest lawyer of all time.?

I asked no such question. Are you afflicted by the mania, my child? You seem to be off your head. In fact I responded to the other poster's point.

Cicero has inspired countless people to want to advocate in the courts.

With this.

My response was specifically in relation the claim that Cicero inspires the masses. By some bizarre logic you came to the conclusion my post was concerning the argument that Cicero is not one of the greatest lawyers, when not one morpheme I typed resembled any argument to that effect. You're so desperate to prove your intellect here that you seek argument where there is none.

Yes I fully expect you to try to save face and try to make it seem as if you had a full grasp of the situation here all along, but we all know you embarrassed yourself here by butting in. In the future, read people's posts in order to get a sense of what they are actually saying. Quite right, you'll not be able to show off your "prodigious intellect" in the future if you apply my advice, but a better human being you will be for it.

Good day to you, my fresher friend.

Reply 18

_Fergo

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

I asked no such question. Are you afflicted by the mania, my child? You seem to be off your head. In fact I responded to the other poster's point.

With this.

My response was specifically in relation the claim that Cicero inspires the masses. By some bizarre logic you came to the conclusion my post was concerning the argument that Cicero is not one of the greatest lawyers, when not one morpheme I typed resembled any argument to that effect. You're so desperate to prove your intellect here that you seek argument where there is none.

Yes I fully expect you to try to save face and try to make it seem as if you had a full grasp of the situation here all along, but we all know you embarrassed yourself here by butting in. In the future, read people's posts in order to get a sense of what they are actually saying. Quite right, you'll not be able to show off your "prodigious intellect" in the future if you apply my advice, but a better human being you will be for it.

Good day to you, my fresher friend.

You know people are losing an argument when they try to block the other party. These are all knee-jerk reactions and you know it.

You asked me this question:

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

Tell me, please some more, about how much you admire Lord Bingham's The Rule of Law. Really, I wanna hear it.

I then replied, asking in turn how this is relevant to Cicero being the greatest lawyer.
Then here you are saying you didn't ask any such question and that I should focus on the topic (even though YOU made that off topic question).

All that verbose delirium is just an attempt to show that you're intelligent. Well, isn't working exactly.

Well, firstly, you said that the claim that Cicero is one of the greatest lawyers is pretentious, having evidently not studied at all his work, and, secondly, you can't even read what you write.

If anyone's incompetent here, it's you, clearly. So yeah, have a nice day, and next time try to use your brain before spewing this nonsense. Cheerio.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 19

Nameless Ghoul

Original post by *Stefan*

Well, firstly, you said that the claim that Cicero is one of the greatest lawyers is pretentious, having evidently not studied at all his work, and, secondly, you can't even read what you write.

If I had said that, it would be quite a ludicrous claim. Fortunately for my sake, I did not saying anything like that.

And "All that verbose delirium is just an attempt to show that you're intelligent." Verbose delirium? Who's the one trying to sound clever again? HAHAHAHHAHAH. This is what I love about TSR. No matter the topic, insecure pseudo-intellectuals will show themselves.