Louis Nizer

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Louis Nizer (February 6, 1902 in London - November 10, 1994 in New York City) was a noted Jewish-American trial lawyer and senior partner of the law firm Phillips Nizer Benjamin Krim & Ballon. He represented many celebrities in a variety of cases, among them Quentin Reynolds in his successful libel suit against Westbrook Pegler, and the broadcaster John Henry Faulk against AWARE, a right-wing organization that had falsely labeled him a communist.

A graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School, he wrote several books, among them the best-selling "My Life In Court" in 1962, about many of his famous cases, which spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He also wrote "The Implosion Conspiracy" in 1972, a study of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage case. He died at the age 92 in New York City, having continued to work at his firm until 10 days before his death.

His representation of Quentin Reynolds served as the basis for the Broadway play A Case of Libel, which starred Van Heflin.

With Jack Valenti, Nizer helped created the motion picture ratings system of the Motion Picture Association of America, which he served as general counsel.

After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he authored the foreword to the Warren Commission report that investigated JFK's murder and the conspiracy theories that still surround it.

Louis Nizer was a renaissance man of the 20th century - a lawyer, author, artist, lecturer, and advisor to some of the most powerful people in the worlds of politics, business, and entertainment. For a number of years, Mr. Nizer was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the "highest-paid lawyer in the world". In addition to his success in the legal world, he was married to his wife Mildred for over 50 years. Over his life, Mr. Nizer granted significant grants and charity to many Jewish causes.

He was famous for his aphorisms, among them:

"True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess."

"I don't know how any man can believe in communism, when communism believes in no man."

"When a man points his finger at someone, he'd better remember he has four fingers pointing at himself."

"Character is a letter of credit written on the face."