The legal 100

by Darien A. McWhirter

This volume presents the story of the development of Western law as told through the biographies of great legal thinkers and practitioners. Those honored are ranked in order of overall importance and influence. This elite group includes philosophers (John Locke and Jeremy Bentham), legislators (Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone), judges (John Marshall and Earl Warren), presidents (Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt), social agitators (Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr.), as well as criminal defense attorneys (Clarence Darrow and William Kunstler). Fully one quarter of the people listed here were not lawyers but nevertheless had a tremendous impact on the evolution of law through their ideas. This list serves as a tool to understanding the world of law through the ages and will help make this subject accessible to a wide audience. The selections and rankings were made by the author in consultation with professors at prominent American law schools. Each entry comes