Who

Considered by many to be the savviest trial lawyer of his generation, Wells is the mustachioed co-chairman of Paul Weiss' litigation department. His most famous clients as of late: Scooter Libby and Eliot Spitzer.

Backstory

The Washington, D.C. native was raised in near-poverty by a mother who worked in a Navy mailroom, and he ended up at Holy Cross on a football scholarship before going on to earn his joint JD/MBA from Harvard in 1976. After graduation, he accepted a position at the prestigious Los Angeles firm of Paul Hastings. A lengthy tenure, though, it wasn't: After just 10 days, Wells quit and returned to the East coast, concluding that California was just "too damn far" from home. In 1978, he began working for Lowenstein Sandler in New Jersey, earning a reputation as an extraordinarily skillful defense lawyer with a Jedi-esque ability to communicate with juries. Over the course of 22 years, he put those courtroom skills to use defending Michael Milken (he got his sentence reduced from 10 years to two), winning an acquittal for Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, and helping former New Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli avoid prosecution for alleged campaign finance violations. (Other prominent clients over the years included Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Mitsubishi, Monsanto, and Philip Morris.) In 2000, he moved to Paul, Weiss as co-chair of the litigation department. Since then, he's maintained his rep as one of the most formidable white collar lawyers with a particular expertise defending fallen politicians.

Of note

Wells has been plenty busy since arriving at Paul Weiss. He defended former Credit Suisse banker Frank Quattrone, negotiating a settlement on his behalf with the SEC; he also represented former McKesson Corp. chairman Charles McCall, a case that ultimately resulted in a mistrial. His most high-profile assignment in recent years was his defense of Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff for Dick Cheney, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Wells didn't win the case, of course—Libby was ultimately convicted on four of the five counts—although Wells was spared from having to visit his client in the clink thanks to President Bush, who commuted Libby's sentence. Wells works with a handful of other hotshot attorneys at the firm, including Bob Schumer, media expert John Breglio, and litigation stars Brad Karp and Martin Flumenbaum. He's also been lending his wisdom to Michele Hirshman, the Paul Weiss partner retained by Eliot Spitzer in 2008.

On the side

Wells isn't all corrupt bankers and dirty corporations. As counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, he has twice defended desegregation education programs before the Supreme Court. He's also dabbled in politics, serving as the national treasurer for the 2000 presidential campaign of Bill Bradley.

For the record

Wells isn't the most famous African-American lawyer to have attended Holy Cross. That distinction belongs to classmate and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Personal

He's married to his high school sweetheart, Nina Mitchell Wells, New Jersey's Secretary of State. They live in West Orange and have two adult children, Teresa and Philip.