100 Most Influential Lawyers In America

The National Law Journal released its list of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. Listed amid the partners at the DC mega-firms, former Solicitor Generals, the Attorney General of New York, was Second Amendment attorney Alan Gura. He is called the master of gun litigation.

Meet the master of gun litigation. Alan Gura surprised gun-control groups in 2008 by winning a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning D.C.'s 33-year-old handgun ban. The decision blasted away decades of precedent. In 2010 came another 5-4 ruling overturning Chicago gun laws and expanding the reach of the Second Amendment. Last year Gura, 42, persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to strike down a Chicago law forbidding individuals from carrying guns in public. With Congress and state legislatures considering new gun-control laws in light of the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting, Gura's services are likely to be even more in demand.

In an interesting symmetry, Alan's opposing counsel in the Heller case, Walter Dellinger, made the list as did former Chicago mayor Richard Daley whose anti-gun laws led to the McDonald case.

Another attorney with sterling Second Amendment credentials making the list is Prof. Eugene Volokh of UCLA and the Volokh Conspiracy blog.

Attorneys were selected for inclusion on the list based on five criteria - political clout, media presence, thought leadership, business leader, or legal results. Alan Gura was chosen based upon his legal results.