Los Angeles is known as the capital for lawyers. After all, “L.A. Law” was the name of a television series years ago. But which of L.A.’s many lawyers are regarded as standouts?

To find out, the Business Journal’s legal affairs reporter, Alexa Hyland, surveyed local recruiters, various legal experts and, of course, lawyers themselves to help her distill a list of the Top 100 Lawyers.

They are presented on the following pages, grouped in 12 practice areas, such as litigation, real estate and (appropriately for L.A.) media and entertainment. Besides listing the requisite name, age and law firm, the Business Journal took the extra step of asking what’s on each lawyer’s bucket list and what their colleagues don’t know about them, among other questions.

We discovered, for example, that Jeff Modisett prosecuted volatile boxer Mike Tyson, that Richard de Bodo once ran a career counseling program in Eskimo and Aleut villages in Alaska, and that Susan Fowler-McNally was one of the original Boogie-Boarders and still rides one.

Many more details of L.A.’s legal life emerge in this annual Who’s Who in Law special report, which profiles local lawyers who are highly regarded by their peers.