Dan L. Stormer, 62

Civil rights

Stormer fought back for NASA scientists at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory when government officials instituted intrusive national security background checks into their sex lives and other private matters. A federal appellate panel nixed the checks, reversing a trial judge’s ruling, and Stormer successfully persuaded the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to deny en banc review of that decision. In August, his firm obtained a $2.9 million settlement from the City of Ontario on behalf of police officers secretly videotaped in their locker room. Stormer is also on a legal team seeking habeas corpus relief for Guantanamo detainee Obaidullah, an Afghan national who was captured as an enemy combatant seven years ago at age 19.