Top Ten Richest Lawyers In America

So, who are they? Here's a fast look at the richest lawyers in the world, ranked from the lowest net worth to the highest. Please note that the people on this list are practicing attorneys or judges. There are loads of additional "lawyers" with a considerably higher net worth, but they just possess a law degree and no longer use it.

Bill Neukom: $850 million

Currently serving as the creator and CEO of the World Justice Project, which is dedicated to promoting the rule of law all around the planet, Bill Neukom is a corporate attorney who's famous because of his philanthropy. After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1967, he worked at a small business until he was asked to do work for Microsoft, which had been in its beginning phases. Eventually, he became Microsoft's legal counsel, a position he held for 25 decades. Formerly, he was an investor in the San Francisco Giants.

John Branca: $50 million

A graduate of the UCLA School of Law, John Branca has had a lengthy career as an amusement and corporate lawyer with a focus on representing rock and roll acts and separate investors. He's represented over 30 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is about pretty much every record of premier entertainment attorneys in the world. On one note, he serves as the co-executor of Michael Jackson's estate.

Roy Black: $100 million

Still another criminal and civil defense attorney, Roy Black, a graduate from the University of Miami, is the senior associate at Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf. For more than 40 decades, he's represented high profile clients, such as William Kennedy Smith (acquitted on rape charges), Albertson's, Inc., and Helio Castroneves. Known by most in the industry for having "the best national standing in Florida," he also acts as a legal advisor on "The Now Show" and "Good Morning America" and instructs advanced criminal signs in the University of Miami.

Judy Sheindlin: between $150 million and $250 million

Best known for being a no-nonsense TV judge, Judge Judy earns $47 million a year. A 1965 graduate of New York Law School, Judge Sheindlin was originally a corporate attorney, though she quickly grew tired of it and choose to be a household court prosecutor. In 1982, she was appointed as a criminal court judge, where she earned a reputation for a "tough" judge and presided over more than 20,000 cases. This, along with various novels she wrote, caught the attention of TV executives and eventually led to her TV show. Additionally, she's the author of seven books and has served as legal analyst on various TV shows, look more to aaronsonlawoffice.

Richard Scruggs: $1.7 billion

A 1976 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and a prominent trial attorney, Richard Scruggs is best known for his love of asbestos and tobacco cases as well as the fact that he won more than $1 billion in judgements against various businesses. He was also highly involved in 2000's Ritalin class action lawsuits, as well as the 2003 case against Lehman Brothers for which he won a $51 million verdict. But in 2007, he was accused of judicial bribery. In 2008, he pled guilty and eventually served six years in federal prison. Now, in age 70, he has completed his sentence and has retained his large fortune.