How can we talk about the most influential U.S. lawyers and not talk about Ruth Bader Ginsburg? The trailblazer for women's legal rights, sometimes also called RBG, took part in some groundbreaking decisions. In the case Reed vs. Reed (1971), Ginsberg argued that men shouldn't be favored over women as administrators of estates. The court ruled that "discrimination based on gender is not constitutional when naming the administrator of an estate."
But who are the most prominent lawyers of today? One of them is the human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. She was part of many landmark human rights violation cases. She represented Yazidis against ISIS members and financiers for committing genocide. She was also part of the legal team representing Armenia in the case involving the Armenian genocide. In recent years, she led a Legal Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine and is a member of the Working Group on Compensation for Damage Caused to Ukraine.
Another famous contemporary lawyer is David Boies, the attorney who helped the U.S. government successfully prosecute Microsoft. His other cases include Hollingsworth v. Perry, a landmark decision that prohibited the Proposition-8 ban on same-sex marriage in California, and his loss in the Bush v. Gore case. Though, there are some "misfires" in his career, like representing Harvey Weinstein and the failed blood-testing company "Theranos" before their downfall.
Gloria Allred is another American attorney that people might know from her high-profile cases against celebrities. Allred prides herself on being a "feminist lawyer" and a fighter for women's rights. She represented at least 28 women in the case against Bill Cosby, as well as the women who sued Tiger Woods in 2010. Allred also represented Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.