Louis Stix Weiss was a name partner of the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a firm that traces its roots to one founded by Louis's father Samuel W. Weiss in 1875. He was best known as one of banker Marshall Field III's lawyers and for his work towards

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

Early life and education

Louis Weiss was born on February 7, 1894, in New York City, the second son of Samuel and Carrie Stix Weiss. He attended the Horace Mann School and was graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1915. He began studies at the Columbia Law School, which were interrupted by the First World War. Rejected on medical grounds for military service, he spent the war years working for

War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Because ...

headed by Bernard Baruch. At war's end, he returned to Columbia Law School, where he became Editor-in-Chief of the '' Columbia Law Review'' and graduated in 1920.

Career

After a brief association with the law firm of

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is an international white shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions, with over 1,000 attorneys in 11 offices worl ...

, he formed his own partnership with his law school classmate and friend, John F. Wharton. In 1927, this two-person firm merged into the successor of the firm his father had founded, which was renamed Cohen, Cole, Weiss & Wharton. That firm and its successors became famous for breaking down the barriers of Jews practicing with Gentiles, as well as its commitment to

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and human rights. In the late 1930s, Weiss met Marshall Field III through their common interest in psychoanalysis, and Weiss became Field's lawyer, as well as counsel to Field Enterprises and assorted other Field interests, including the '' Chicago Sun'' and the ill-fated '' PM'' newspaper edited by Ralph Ingersoll. In 1946, Weiss recruited former Treasury Department General Counsel Randolph E. Paul and former War Labor Board chairman

Lloyd K. Garrison Lloyd Kirkham Garrison (November 19, 1897 – October 2, 1991) was an American lawyer. He was Dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, but also served as chairman of the "first" National Labor Board, National Labor Relations Board, chairman ...

to his firm, which was renamed Paul, Weiss, Wharton & Garrison. In 1950, Weiss persuaded U.S. District Judge Simon H. Rifkind to join the firm, which then adopted its current name of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Weiss was a longtime member of the National Legal Committee of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and was elected to succeed Howard Law School Dean Charles H. Houston as its chair. He was a director of the American Council on Race Relations, a founder with

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

of the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children at the outset of World War II, a longtime trustee and eventually chair of the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

, and a trustee of, among other organizations, the Field Foundation, the National Opinion Research Center, and the American Psychoanalytic Association. Louis Weiss died suddenly of a heart attack on November 13, 1950. The following week, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated her syndicated column to Weiss, which she entitled "A Radiant Life." In the

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

longtime NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White called Weiss "one of a select group to whom whatever freedom Negro Americans and other minorites have won during recent years was due."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Louis S. 20th-century American lawyers 1950 deaths 1894 births Columbia Law School alumni Yale College alumni Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people Horace Mann School alumni Simpson Thacher & Bartlett people