It has been done in the health service, the media and the City. Professionals — lawyers included — are increasingly victims of league tables. So braving the ire of that most litigious of groups, today The Times Law section offers its own list.

Our Law 100 aims to be different: it is not a list of excellence, popularity or media mentions — although these can be factors. So it’s not just big names or brilliant stars (take comfort, those excluded). Instead, we tried to select the most powerful and influential within the law today — in the judiciary, private practice, in-house, public sector or politics.

How to measure power and influence — who really has clout? Should all senior judges automatically make the list? We agreed that there had to be both power and influence: some people hold powerful positions but their influence may be minimal. Conversely some judges or top lawyers make little impact.

Power and influence in the law goes beyond the judiciary. Who are the driving forces at the big City law firms, the generators of billion-pound revenues — the dealmakers who command most respect? And is the in-house solicitor, with power to bring a test case, more powerful than the barristers who win it or the judge who decides it? And what of those in the backrooms, the unseen lawyers driving the policy cogs of government?

We had in mind such factors as whether contenders can influence public or political opinion, or the strategy or policy of a big firm, company or government; whether they can shape or apply the law in a way that affects many people; whether they are respected, feared or emulated or contributed to the strength and quality of UK legal services.

Our own judging panel was excluded and also non-lawyers, disqualifying some key regulators. As for lawyers with careers largely outside the law, they were ruled out — except where their contribution is the law itself — such as Jack Straw. We also disqualified legal giants like Anthony Salz, who have moved to other work.

Many outstanding lawyers do not make the list. Those who do are either indisputably rated at the top, being first port of call for clients on the wrong side of the law, facing divorce or libelled — and/or combine that excellence with other criteria (contacts, writing, politics) to put them apart from rivals. Nor did many women feature: a reflection of their paucity at the top of the law. City lawyers also fare less well than higher-profile colleagues in areas such as judicial review. There is no business lawyer in the Top Ten — which reflects the panel’s view that unlike their US counterparts who are often leading voices on social or policy issues, no City lawyer had a broad enough influence to be in the Top Ten.

Of course, the list is subjective. There was heated debate to whittle down a long list to 100. Polite insults were traded. The Top Ten — and their placings — are probably most contentious of all. But the final result is a democratic verdict.

As for the top slot, a case can be made for the Secretary of State for Justice. But as one panellist put it: “Jack Straw occupies a powerful position and his will can often prevail. But his power and influence are more as a politician than a lawyer . . . and often results from consultation with many others. By contrast, Tom Bingham, a man of remarkable intellect, had an entirely personal influence at the highest level across a huge range of subjects — affecting the lives of millions of people.”

So here it is. Please e-mail in comments and criticisms — and names. You can contact us here or fill out a form here. And don’t forget: if others should be in, who comes out? Stand by for the brickbats.

The Top Ten

1. Lord Bingham of Cornhill, senior law lord
2. Jack Straw, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor
3. Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
4. Sir Ken Macdonald, Director of Public Prosecutions
5. Sir Igor Judge, Senior criminal judge in England and Wales
6. Baroness Hale of Richmond, law lord
7. Lord Carlile of Berriew, Liberal Democrat peer and terrorism watchdog
8. Phil Shiner, human rights and public lawyer
9. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty
10. Keith Schilling, media lawyer

And the rest, in alphabetical order . . .

Professor Andrew Ashworth, QC, criminologist
Vera Baird, QC, Solicitor-General
Sir Gerald Barling, QC, president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal
Michael Beloff, QC, public and sports barrister
Guy Beringer, senior partner, Allen & Overy
Daniel Bethlehem, QC, legal adviser to the Foreign Office
Nigel Boardman, corporate lawyer
Rupert Bondy, general counsel, BP
Sir Nicholas Bratza, Vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights
Bruce Buck, Chelsea chairman and securities lawyer
Theodore Burke, chief executive, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Michael Caplan, QC, criminal solicitor
David Cheyne, senior partner, Linklaters
David Childs, managing partner, Clifford Chance
Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls
Philip Collins, chairman, Office of Fair Trading
Stefan Cross, employment lawyer
Judge Keith Cutler, chairman, Council of Circuit Judges
Martyn Day, personal injury lawyer
Timothy Dutton, QC, chairman of the Bar Council
Lord Justice Dyson, Court of Appeal judge
Mr Justice Eady, High Court judge
Steve Edge, tax lawyer
Sir Terence Etherton, chairman of the Law Commission
Edward Fitzgerald, QC, human rights barrister
Richard Fleck, corporate lawyer and auditors regulator
Michael Francies, private equity lawyer
Bradley Gans, European general counsel, Citigroup
Janet Gaymer, Commissioner for Public Appointments
Lord Grabiner, QC, commercial barrister
Professor Malcolm Grant, provost and president, University College London
David Greenwald, international general counsel, Goldman Sachs
Professor Christopher Greenwood, QC, international law barrister and academic
Dominic Grieve, shadow Attorney-General
Lady Justice Hallett, Court of Appeal judge
Lord Hamilton, Lord President, senior judge in Scotland
Mark Harding, general counsel, Barclays
Sue Hemming, head of counter-terrorism, Crown Prosecution Service
Baroness Higgins, president of the International Court of Justice
Lord Hoffmann, law lord
Andrew Holroyd, president of the Law Society
Lord Hope of Craighead, law lord
Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society
Lord Hunt of Wirral, Conservative peer
Anthony Inglese, general counsel, HMRC
Paul Jenkins, Treasury Solicitor
Jeffrey Jowell, QC, public barrister and academic
Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, QC, barrister, writer and Labour peer
Sir Sydney Kentridge, QC, elder statesman of the Bar
Imran Khan, human rights solicitor
Sir Brian Kerr, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
Nigel Knowles, chief executive of DLA Piper
Charles Lawton, legal adviser, Rio Tinto
Lord Lester of Herne Hill, Liberal Democrat peer and architect of human rights laws
Michael Mansfield, QC, public, criminal and human rights barrister
Peter Maynard, general counsel, Prudential and chair of the GC100
Miller McLean, general counsel, Royal Bank of Scotland
Konstantin Mettenheimer, co-senior partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Terry Miller, general counsel, London 2012
David Morley, senior partner-elect, Allen & Overy
Sir Andrew Morritt, senior Chancery judge
Nicholas Mostyn, QC, divorce barrister
Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, law lord
David Pannick, QC, public and human rights barrister
Diana Parker, family lawyer
David Perry, QC, criminal barrister
Gareth Pierce, criminal and human rights solicitor
Stuart Popham, senior partner, Clifford Chance
Sir Mark Potter, president of the Family Division of the High Court
Laurence Rabinowitz, QC, commercial barrister
Sir Christopher Rose, Chief Surveillance Commissioner
Richard Rosenthal, European general counsel, Morgan Stanley
Joshua Rozenberg, legal editor of The Daily Telegraph
Philip Sales, QC, first Treasury counsel (common law)
Nigel Savage, chief executive of the College of Law
Sir Konrad Schiemann, judge on the European Court of Justice
Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC, Attorney-General
David Seymour, senior legal adviser to the Home Office
Fiona Shackleton, family lawyer
Eleanor Sharpston, QC, advocate-general at the European Court of Justice
Mark Stephens, media lawyer
Jonathan Sumption, QC, commercial barrister
Richard Thomas, Information Commissioner
Geoffrey Vos, QC, commercial barrister
John Wadham, legal director of Equality and Human Rights Commission
Dame Juliet Wheldon, legal adviser to the Governor of the Bank of England
Andrew Whittaker, general counsel, Financial Services Authority
Stephen Williams, general counsel, Unilever
Tony Williams, legal management consultant
Lord Woolf of Barnes, former Lord Chief Justice