Lawyers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Biography

The collection consists of microfilm and bound photocopies of all records in the Marine Court of New York City, called the "Mayor's Court," 1674-1860, in which Jews or Jewish names appear in any capacity. Included are records of briefs, warrants, jury lists, and lists of cases, in chronological order. The entire collection has been indexed by last name.

Collection contains the surviving briefs (cases and points) of the City Court (until 1883, the Marine Court) of the City of New York, a statutory court of inferior civil jurisdiction within the County of New York and with limited maritime jurisdiction. The briefs were randomly selected from archives which were subsequently destroyed and represent primarily 1872-1881, 1884-1901, and 1904-1907, with some examples 1860-1871 and 1882. A sampling suggests that Jews were involved in 20-30 percent of these cases.

The Simon H. Rifkind Papers document seventy-four years of Rifkind’s career as a lawyer, judge, and humanitarian. The collection spans the years 1921 to 1995 and is composed primarily of paper-based materials, including correspondence, reports, court documents, newspaper clippings, notes, personal and professional writings, publications, and ephemera. A few instances of audiovisual material and realia are recorded throughout the six individual series.