WHAT IS POWER? It is the ability to control and influence events, to reach goals, and to affect others' lives. And few people have more power than lawyers. For some, power's desirability is questionable; they think it implies unseemly back-room deal-making. But for others, power means competence. They believe that their expertise, connections and professional success are well-deserved rewards for their many labors.

In the legal profession, power manifests itself in different ways in different circles, some of them limited and others quite large. A successful business attorney in a small community may be able to help any client meet its legal needs by being savvy about local procedures and customs and by maintaining close friendships with those who control them. In such a situation, the lawyer is the proverbial "big fish in a little pond."

Yet this same lawyer's influence could be said to pale in comparison with that of a corporate attorney in a major metropolitan area. The latter can negotiate deals and advise major national businesses, thus having an impact on hundreds of thousands of people. In this case, the pond is much bigger - and so are the fish.

Still other lawyers hold power in circles not related to a locale but instead shared with those who have common concerns or interests. Personal injury lawyers who win big awards, bankruptcy specialists and corporate general counsel are good examples of those who wield their influence in son; City Hall's voice on land use in the nation's most multiracial metropolitan area; besides moderating disputes among developers, homeowners and environmentalists, maintains a second career as head of his firm's insurance bad-faith section; big-name clients include MCA, Bechtel Group Inc. and First Boston; while some wonder whether his behind-the-scenes clout will survive the passing of L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley and his administration, others have for years been asking him to run for office himself.

Leonard Garment

Leonard Garment, 64, of D.C.'s Dickstein, Shapiro & Morin; a perennial Washington insider and longtime friend of Vice President George Bush, at home in Republican power circles but also respected by Democrats; maintains a varied practice, including white- collar criminal defense and corporate matters; is representing former national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane; also counseled Toshiba Corp. in its successful attempt to lessen trade restrictions against its products.

Wendell Gauthier

Wendell Gauthier, 45, of Gauthier, Murphy, Sherman, Chehardy & Ellis in Metairie, La.; writing a book on mass disaster litigation; represents claimants from airline crashes, winning $10.1 million for one plaintiff in a suit filed over the 1981 Pan Am airliner crash in New Orleans - at the time, the largest aviation-related award ever granted by a jury; took on hundreds of clients injured during the Bhopal, India, Union Carbide Corp. gas leak; now heads the plaintiffs committee in litigation stemming from the 1987 San Juan Depont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico.