Nizer, Louis, 1902-1994

Lawyer and author.

From the description of Papers of Louis Nizer, 1961. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79632245

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Louis Nizer was a trial lawyer and author of books including My Life in Court, Catspaw, and Implosion Conspiracy.

Nizer was born in 1902 in London, though his parents moved to Brooklyn, New York when Nizer was a young child and he spent most of his youth in the United States. Nizer attended Columbia College and earned his BA from the institution in 1922 before continuing on to earn his law degree from the Columbia University Law School in 1924.

Nizer, along with fellow attorney Louis Phillips, established a law practice in 1926, the foundations of the firm that would become Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim, and Ballon.

Much of Nizer's legal career focused on entertainment law, and in particular the film industry. In addition to representing individuals and companies involved in the film industry, he served as the lawyer for the New York Film Board of Trade. He, along with Jack Valenti, was instrumental in creating the motion picture ratings system still in use by the Motion Picture Association of America.

In addition to his trial work, Nizer was a writer who wrote popular books related to the law. His best known work is his 1962 memoir, My Life in Court which documented his experiences in the courtroom; other of his books, such as Catspaw, also documented cases that he worked on over the course of his career. He also penned a book about the Rosenberg case, Implosion Conspiracy, which resulted in its own legal action when Nizer was sued by the Rosenberg family. In addition to his books, Nizer also wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune.

Nizer died in 1994 of kidney failure at the age of 92.

From the guide to the Louis Nizer Papers, 1940-1994., (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)