Click on linked names to read about other key players, or see the full list.

During the first months of the investigation, Speights was Monica Lewinsky's other lawyer, the one who kept a low profile in the midst of the maelstrom. While his avuncular colleague William Ginsburg conducted a one-man media onslaught, Speights was the silent partner, quietly negotiating with independent counsel Kenneth Starr. In June, when Lewinsky replaced Ginsburg with lawyers Plato Cacheris and Jacob Stein, she kept Speights on her legal team.

Part of a two-man downtown Washington law firm, Speights, 48, is a leader in the local cadre of black trial lawyers.

• Dropping Ginsburg, Lewinsky Hires Two New Lawyers (June 3, 1998)
• The Lewinsky Team's Silent Partner (Jan. 30, 1998)

(Updated October 2, 1998)