It’s not just the history-making accomplishments of our lifetime achievers that stand out. These seven men and one woman have done incredible work for their clients: winning a landmark antitrust verdict for the National Football League; brokering a deal between Big Tobacco and 46 states; helping DuPont rake in almost $1 billion in settlement awards. And they have served the greater good, too: crafting civil rights legislation; persuading Lyndon Johnson to scale back the bombing of North Vietnam; putting the Whitewater scandal, finally, to rest.

Looking at their careers, what also stands out is the length of their public and private service. At 77, Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Bob Fiske continues to represent clients (including Siemens and ABN AMRO). Seventy-nine year-olds Harry McPherson and Berl Bernhard still work out of DLA Piper’s Washington, D.C. office. At 91, Covington & Burling’s Jim McKay devotes his practice now almost entirely to pro bono. For these lawyers, service to clients and causes is much more than a job; it’s a way of life.