Scorned and ridiculed they may be — but lists of the top 100 in any profession are still compulsive reading. This is the second year of the Times Law 100 — our pick of the most powerful and influential in the law today.

Who is in and who out? There was heated debate among the judges — not least over how to weigh the power of an in-house counsel with a multi-million-pound company in his hands against a lone lawyer creating law at the frontier of human rights. In the end the choice spans all types of work, from academia to the judiciary, and entrants stand on their own merits — we ruled out informal quotas so as to stop too big an entry from one chambers, firm or college.

No surprise, probably, that Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers takes the No 1 slot. Last year Phil Shiner was the Top 10 wild card — this year there’s another, in the shape of Clive Stafford Smith. Lord Pannick, QC, is a second new entry. After feedback, one or two notable omissions last year are in.

On the corporate side, those who make the list are at the helm of firms and corporate legal departments that are holding up in tougher times — and so increasing their influence. The sector will emerge from the recession in a different shape; these people are at the heart of it. Unlike their US counterparts, business lawyers have a lower profile in Britain, as reflected in none making our Top 10. But with lawyers on the front line of bailout-restructuring work and the mass of litigation and regulatory work yet to come, the case next year for including the likes of Charles Randell, from Slaughter and May, could be irresistible.

The Times Law100 2008

Our inaugural list of Britain's most powerful lawyers

As before, some big names don’t make it, because it’s not a list of excellence or popularity, although those factors are there. Nor is it a moral or social judgment or comment on likeability. Others miss out because they are non-lawyers — such as the heads of some powerful legal quangos. Timeliness plays its part: 25 names from 2008 are out, often because they no longer hold an official post that gave them their influence. Others fail to make it because their star has faded, albeit temporarily. The list is inevitably something of a snapshot, influenced by current events, despite seeking to take a longer view.

Disagree with our choices? Did we miss someone obvious? Post your feedback below or e-mail it to law@timesonline.co.uk

Vote: who do you think should be number one?
Which City lawyer most deserves to make the top ten?

THE TOP TEN

1. Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, pictured above, was a clear favourite for our No 1 slot this year. Last year’s Lord Chief Justice is now the senior law lord, heading the highest court in the land. Lord Phillips, 71, is actually now lower in the judicial hierarchy than last year as senior law lord, ranking below the Lord Chief Justice (Lord Judge). But with the opening of the UK’s Supreme Court in the autumn he holds an unrivalled position of influence at the apex of the judiciary. Set to become the court’s first president, Lord Phillips will lead the 12 justices who make legal and constitutional history as they begin work in their new court that is independent and physically separate from the legislature. The broadcasting of appeals is just one groundbreaking reform he is expected to oversee; but it will be how he shapes the delivery and content of decisions that will count most. Lord Phillips, who went to Bryanston School (where he is chairman of governors) and King’s College, Cambridge, has held the three top judicial posts: Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and now senior law lord.

2. Lord Judge, 68, is the most senior criminal judge in England and Wales: he finally secured the position after being pipped to the post last time round by Lord Phillips. Highly popular with fellow judges, he has steered a steady course through the choppy waters of the controversial proposals for a sentencing commission and looks likely to achieve the flexibility judges want. But he is ready to go public if needs be: at the annual judges’ dinner he launched a two-pronged attack — on the volume of legislation and on ministers’ plans for an outside body to scrutinise MPs' standards and expenses. That, he warned, could risk a constitutional clash between judges and the legislature if its decisions came before the courts. Born in Malta, he went to the Oratory School, Woodcote, Berkshire, and Cambridge. Kindly but tough, traditionalist but pragmatic, he has backed moves to make the judiciary more diverse and expressed concern that people see it as “fustian” and “old-fashioned”. He has cautioned against longer jail terms without calculating the costs involved but gave the go-ahead for the first non-jury criminal trial. He is just in to his stride. We can expect to hear more.

3. Jack Straw, as Lord Chancellor and first Secretary of State for Justice, still wields huge power at the pinnacle of the justice system. Policy on courts, legal aid, prisons and the Probation Service, sentencing, the criminal law and constitutional affairs all come under his patch. He also carries much weight in government, and at points of crisis is regularly named as likely caretaker leader were Gordon Brown to go. He is overseeing cuts across the justice system of £1,070 million over three years, including £200 million from the legal aid budget; and has opened up the family courts to the media. Skilful and experienced, he is now the “father” of the Cabinet (he is 63 in August); he has been both Home and Foreign Secretary as well as Leader of the Commons.He went to Leeds University and was active in student politics, famously serving as president of the National Union of Students from 1969 to 1971. A year later he was called to the Bar but that career was shortlived. He is the first full-blooded politician to be Lord Chancellor. He has paradoxically had a much better working relationship with the judges than his career-barrister predecessor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton.

4. Lord Bingham of Cornhill remains a powerful legal figure even though he has retired as senior law lord. Still regarded as the pre-eminent lawyer of his generation with a brilliant, incisive mind, he will continue to have influence. Since retiring as senior law lord he has launched an attack on the “cynical” disregard of the Bush Administration for international law and over the legal advice given by Lord Goldsmith, then Attorney-General, to the Government on the invasion of Iraq. An appeal has been launched by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law for a centre in his name and under his guidance for the study and promotion of the rule of law. Lord Bingham went to Sedbergh School and Balliol College, Oxford, before a career at the Bar and judiciary — in which he held all three posts of Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and finally senior law lord with consummate skill. He has always been a strong advocate of a separate supreme court and is sorry not to be in post to see its creation. He was appointed a Knight of the Garter in 2005 — the first judge to be granted the honour.

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