Nathan Lewin
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Nathan Lewin (born January 31, 1936) is an American attorney who has argued many cases before the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.


Early life and education

Lewin was born in
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. His grandfather, the chief rabbi of Rzeszow, was elected to and served twice as a member of the Polish Legislature (“Sejm”). Lewin’s father, who was elected twice to the Lodz City Council, was later a professor of Jewish History at
Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universit ...
’s Bernard Revel Graduate School and a prolific author in Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English. Lewin's family fled Poland just ahead of the Nazis in 1939, and arrived in the United States in 1941, where Lewin grew up in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He is a Sugihara survivor. Lewin received his
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
from Yeshiva College in 1957, and earned his J.D.
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
, from
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
in 1960, where he was treasurer of the
Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
.


Career

Lewin was law clerk to Chief Judge
J. Edward Lumbard Joseph Edward Lumbard Jr. (August 18, 1901 – June 3, 1999) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born on August 18, 1901, in Harlem,New York City, New York, Lumba ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
(1960–1961) and to Associate Justice John M. Harlan of the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
(1961–1962). Lewin also served as Deputy Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs at the Department of State. While he was an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
under Solicitors General
Archibald Cox Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a p ...
and
Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
, he argued 12 cases before the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. He later served as Deputy Assistant
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Lewin also was a part of the prosecution team that won a conviction of James R. Hoffa and represented the government in briefing and oral argument of the Hoffa appeals in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. He also was on the federal prosecution team of the murderers of the three civil-rights workers in
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Upon leaving government service, Lewin was a founding partner of Miller Cassidy Larroca & Lewin, later founding Lewin & Lewin LLP, one of the United States' foremost litigation 'boutiques' for more than 30 years. Lewin is admitted to practice in the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, New York, the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, all federal appellate circuits, and many United States District Courts. Lewin has argued orally and filed briefs before every federal
appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
circuit and has presented oral arguments to the Supreme Court in 28 cases. He has also represented defendants in federal criminal trials. Lewin currently practices law together with his daughter Alyza D. Lewin, at Lewin & Lewin LLP which specializes in white-collar criminal defense and in federal appellate litigation, and is located in Washington, D.C. Lewin has practiced law in the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, New York, the Supreme Court of the United States, all federal appellate circuits, and many United States District Courts. Lewin has engaged in trial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts for more than 45 years. Lewin was recognized by the DC Legal Times as one of "Washington's Greatest Lawyers of the Past 30 Years" and was ranked Number 2 of Washington’s Best Lawyers by the ''Washingtonian.'' He has been voted one of ''America’s Best Lawyers'' for 30 years, and was included in the 2019 edition of that volume in four distinct practice categories, including Appellate Litigation, Defense of White-Collar Crime, and
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
Litigation. In 2020, U.S. News & World Report announced Lewin & Lewin LLP was among the Best Law Firms.


Cases


First Amendment Cases

Lewin has been a champion in advocating for
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights and civil liberties. He has successfully argued many cases involving the right to display the Chanukah menorah in a public forum, including two such cases before ''
en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller ...
'' courts of the Sixth and
Eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...
Circuits. He represented Chabad in the Supreme Court in County of Allegheny v. ACLU, where the Court held that the City of Pittsburgh may constitutionally include Chabad's menorah in a city display on public property. He represented an Air Force psychologist in the Supreme Court case testing his constitutional right to wear a
yarmulke A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the c ...
while wearing a military uniform. In 1976, Lewin represented the
Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
community of Williamsburg in the Supreme Court, in its constitutional challenge to a racially conscious legislative reapportionment, urging a rule of constitutional law that the Supreme Court accepted 20 years later. He was the attorney for the Satmar
Kiryas Joel Kiryas Joel ( yi, קרית יואל, Kiryas Yoyel, ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast majori ...
school for handicapped children in ''
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet ''Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet'', 512 U.S. 687 (1994), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of a school district created with boundaries that matched that of a r ...
'', a case in defense of a law creating a special public school district for handicapped children in that community, which was heard by the Supreme Court in 1994. Lewin drafted a number of legislative provisions that preserve the constitutional right to freedom of religion including: the provision of the federal Civil Rights Act enacted in 1972 that protects religious observances of private employees, the provision of federal law that enables federal employees to observe religious holidays without financial penalty, the provision of New York's Domestic Relations Law that conditions the issuance of a civil divorce on removal of barriers to remarriage such as the delivery or acceptance of a ''
get Get or GET may refer to: * Get (animal), the offspring of an animal * Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law * GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request * "Get" (song), by the Groggers * Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia * Get AS, a ...
'' (Jewish religious divorce), the provision of federal law that entitles servicemen to wear yarmulkes with their military uniforms and advocated on behalf of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
prisoners who were denied kosher food.


Other Cases

Between 2002 and 2015, Lewin & Lewin litigated ''pro bono publico'' on behalf of Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem and claimed the statutory right to have his U.S. passport designate his place of birth as "Israel." The case was argued twice in the Supreme Court of the United States (once by Lewin and once by Alyza Lewin) and three times in the U.S. Court of Appeals by Lewin. After the Supreme Court held that the President had the exclusive constitutional authority to recognize a city as being within the borders of a foreign sovereign, U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in December 2017 recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In October 2020, the State Department changed its passport policy and presented Menachem Zivotofsky with the first U.S. passport formally listing Israel as place of birth for a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem. Lewin conceded he submitted a picture of Baruch Herzfeld dancing with a non-Jewish woman to an Orthodox
rabbinical court A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
as part of his case against him, but insists it was "a minor detail of the case". In 2014 and 2015, Lewin represented Binyamin Stimler, a member of the
New York divorce coercion gang The New York divorce coercion gang was a Haredi Jewish group that kidnapped, and in some cases tortured, Jewish men in the New York metropolitan area to force them to grant their wives ''gittin'' (religious divorces). The Federal Bureau of Invest ...
whose purpose was the kidnap and torture of Jewish men in order to force them into granting religious divorces to their wives. Stimler was sentenced to 39 months in prison for his role in the plot. Lewin is currently representing
Mike Lindell Michael James Lindell (born June 28, 1961), also known as the My Pillow Guy, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing ...
and
My Pillow My Pillow, Inc. (stylized as MyPillow) is an American pillow-manufacturing company based in Chaska, Minnesota.Michael J Lindell"MyPillow HQ moves to Chaska,"Chaska Herald', June 16, 2015. The company was founded in 2009 by Mike Lindell, who inv ...
, defendants in a $1.3 billion lawsuit brought by U.S. Dominion, Inc. for libel in connection with Lindell's claims that Dominion "stole" the 2020 election from Donald Trump.


Academia

Lewin has also taught at many of the nation’s top law schools. In the 1970’s he was an
Adjunct Professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
of Constitutional Law at
Georgetown Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...
.In 1974-1975 he was Visiting Professor at the
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
, teaching Advanced Constitutional Law (First Amendment Litigation) and the first formal course ever given in a national law school on the subject of “Defense of White-Collar Crime.” He also taught a seminar on Appellate Advocacy. In 1994, Lewin gave a semester-long seminar on “Religious Minorities in Supreme Court Litigation” at the
University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...
and taught that seminar at
Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
from 1996 to 2018. He also taught a course in Jewish Civil Law at
George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...
for several years.


Non-profit work

Between 1982 and 1984, he served as President of the Jewish Community Council of Greater
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, and for more than 30 years, he served as the national vice president of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA). Lewin was president of the American Section of the
International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (IJL) strives to advance human rights everywhere, including the prevention of war crimes, the punishment of war criminals, the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction, and internat ...
from 1992 to 1997. He is currently Honorary President of its successor, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.


Notable clients

Lewin's individual clients have included the Agudas Chasidei Chabad which was led by Lubavitcher Rebbe
Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
, Attorney General
Edwin Meese III Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan pres ...
, whom he represented while he was serving as Attorney General, former President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
,
Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...
,
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
, nursing home owner Bernard Bergman, Congressman George Hansen, Teamsters president Roy Williams, and Israeli war hero
Aviem Sella Aviem Sella ( he, אביאם סלע, born January 7, 1946) is an Israeli businessman and former commander in the Israeli Air Force. In 1987, he was charged in absentia on three counts of espionage for recruiting Jonathan Pollard, who served a 30- ...
. Lewin represented
Sholom Rubashkin Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin (born October 30, 1959) is a convicted felon and the former CEO of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin. Durin ...
in the appeal from his conviction and sentencing to 27 years in jail. He also served as the Justice Department's special counsel in the deportation case against
Valerian Trifa Valerian Trifa (; secular name Viorel Donise Trifa ; June 28, 1914 – January 28, 1987) was a Romanian Orthodox cleric and fascist political activist, who served as archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America and Canada. For part of hi ...
who had led the Iron Guard in Nazi-occupied Romania.


Personal life

Lewin is married to Rikki Gordon (a photojournalist), with whom he has two daughters, Alyza Doba (an attorney who is also his law partner) and Na’ama Batya (a multimedia artist and photojournalism professor). Lewin has six grandchildren.


Publications by Lewin

Lewin has written numerous articles on American jurisprudence, politics, and religion. He was an author and Contributing Editor to ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'' between 1970 and 1991. His articles on law and the Supreme Court have appeared in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'', '' Saturday Review'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and other periodicals. In an essay in Sh'ma, Lewin said that suicide bombers were ready to give up their lives to murder crowds of people to whom they were not related and did not know. For deterrence to be effective, the law should notify potential bombers that their adult family members will be treated as if they were in the crowd of victims. If they knew or should have known of the suicide bomber's plans and failed to dissuade the bomber, they would be treated in legal proceedings as criminals subject to the death penalty.


See also

*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 9) Law clerks have assisted the justices of the United States Supreme Court in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Each justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. Mos ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Nathan 1930s births American people of Polish-Jewish descent Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Living people Lawyers from New York City Polish emigrants to the United States Yeshiva University alumni Sugihara's Jews