16. Melvyn I. Weiss
2004 Power List
A giant-killer in the class-action litigation field, his firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, won several big suits in 2003, including an historic $517 million securities settlement against Lucent Technologies. Last year he was described by The National Law Journal as one of the country’s 13 most powerful lawyers of the last 15 years. Weiss is also a top Democratic fundraiser.