The legal files of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky and Lieberman, P.C. (RBSK& L) have been divided into two series: I. Case Files, 1922-1988, and II. General Legal Work and Client Files, 1915-1992.

Series I: Case Files, 1922-1988, is composed of litigation-related materials from many of the landmark cases handled by the firm as well as other cases in which the firm had an interest. Among the most prominent are:

• Peck, James v. Clarence M. Kelly, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA). James Peck, a civil rights worker who participated in the first Freedom Ride from Washington to Mississippi, was brutally beaten, along with other riders, when they reached Birmingham, Alabama. Eric Lieberman represented Peck in this historic case that established the duty of the FBI and Justice Department to intervene to protect civil rights.

• Hoffa, James R. v. William B. Saxbe, U.S. Attorney General. This case focused on the condition attached to President Nixon’s commutation of James Hoffa’s 13-year prison sentence barring him from union management after his release. Case materials involve members of the Nixon White House staff, John Dean and Chuck Colson; include depositions given by John Mitchell and others; and mention Hoffa’s eventual disappearance.

• Socialist Workers Party v. Attorney General. Boudin and Lieberman represented the plaintiffs in this celebrated case which proved that the F.B.I. had engaged in an almost thirty-year campaign of break-ins and infiltration against the Socialist Workers party and the Young Socialist Alliance.

• Passport Cases. Among the notable passport cases included in this series are Robeson, Paul v. John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of Stateand Kent, Rockwell v. John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State. Boudin argued both of these cases. In the Kent case the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the fundamental right of foreign travel, ruling that the policy of not issuing passports to Communists violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of association.

• Bond, Julian v. James Floyd, et al. Rabinowitz and Boudin successfully represented Julian Bond in this case which involved the refusal of the Georgia House of Representative to seat Bond after his election to that body in 1965. The refusal was based on an anti-war statement made by Bond. In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the Georgia House of Representatives had denied Bond his freedom of speech and that it was required to seat him.

• Other Cases Involving Anti-War Protest.Among the many files within this series involving anti-war issues are such notable cases as USA v. William Sloan Coffin, Jr., USA v. Benjamin Spock, and USA v. Eqbal Ahmad. In another protest case, Rabinowitz represented Robert Gwathmey who had been arrested for the display of a banner resembling the American flag except that there was the peace symbol instead of stars on the blue field at the upper left corner ( Gwathmey, Robert and William Durham, et al. v. Town of East Hampton). The New York State law on which Gwathmey’s arrest was based was ruled unconstitutional.

Series II: General Legal Work and Client Files, 1915-1992, contains a variety of materials associated with specific clients represented by the firm. Many of the long-term clients are labor organizations and, while a good deal of the material is related to litigation, these files also contain correspondence, contracts, research, notes, minutes, and clippings. In addition to client materials, there are also documents that reflect routine legal work performed by various members of the firm.

An extensive amount of material in this series relates to work done on behalf of the American Communications Association (ACA). Victor Rabinowitz began his relationship with the ACA while still working for Boudin, Cohn and Glickstein, and the union continued as a client after he left that firm. In his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court, Rabinowitz represented the ACA in an unsuccessful challenge to the constitutionality of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act's requirement that union officers sign an affidavit swearing that they were not members of, nor affiliated with, the Communist Party ( ACA v. Douds, 1950). Records of this and many other cases are included within the collection. In addition to litigation materials, ACA files address grievances, arbitrations, contract negotiations, elections, strike issues, and interaction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the War Labor Board (WLB).

Another client well-represented in this series is the Teachers Union of the City of New York. Most of the Teachers Union material involves the loyalty investigations and resulting dismissal of teachers and other school employees, beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through numerous reinstatement attempts including those after the Supreme Court finally ruled in 1967 against New York's Feinberg Law.

Among the other unions represented in the series, the Civil Service Technical Guild (CSTG; AFSCME, DC37, Local 375) and the United Furniture Workers of America (UFWA) are prominent. Materials involving negotiations, agreements, benefit plans, organizational issues, and employee dismissals are included, along with litigation files.

Non-union clients include organizations such as the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League, the Black Panther Bail and Defense Funds, and Protestants and Others United for the Separation of Church and State, as well as a number of individuals seeking assistance with passports, draft status and family estates.