Small Town Lawyer
Author: Eleanor Rubin Charwat
64 pages, paperback
 
Preface: “Although I knew how passionate my Dad, Nathaniel Rubin, was about the law, I never knew much about his career that spanned 58 years in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York. When he came home, he left his office behind and seldom discussed his cases, his triumphs or frustrations.It wasn't until I went through his scrapbooks of newspaper clippings long after he died in 1989 that I saw the wide variety of newsworthy cases he had tried. These scrapbooks form the basis of this book. Most clippings are from the daily newspaper, which was called the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News and the Poughkeepsie Evening Star in the 1930s, the Poughkeepsie New Yorker in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and is today the Poughkeepsie Journal. Few lawyers are still alive who knew him as a "tiger" in the courtroom.Many of his "smaller" cases, which helped individuals with their fights against landlords, or spouses, or employers, never made the papers. So, this is not meant to be a thorough analysis of his law practice, but touches on some highlights.His practice reflected an earlier era — when lawyers worked alone or with one or two partners, without paralegals or computers, but with a loyal secretary or two who took dictation and typed up briefs over and over.I hope this book gives some perspective on a man and his times. A man whose loves of two courts — law and tennis — deserves to be remembered.”