more sweeping than the federal statute; the
state law had an absolute ban against
dismissing an employee • over religious
observance, while the federal law permitted
dismissal in cases of "undue hardship" for
the employer. When COLPA officials
debated the case, those who were opposed
to taking it to the Supreme Court said the
organization should leave well enough
alone, fearing that a negative ruling by the
high court might weaken the existing
federal law. Lewin disagreed, and his side
prevailed.
"I was certain we'd win," he says. He
took the case to the Supreme Court and
lost. Chief Justice Warren Burger's
majority ruling was "brief, but devastat-
ing," according to Schick, narrowing the
federal law's "scope of protection" for
Sabbath observers.
But Lewin is not one to second-guess his
decisions. "Some say 'don't take risks, but
I disagree," he says. "My philosophy is that
it is better to make my case before the
Supreme Court and take my chances of
losing."

A Proud History

That philosophy of self-confidence is
rooted in a family lineage and professional
career of distinction. Born in Lodz, Poland,
in 1936, Lewin escaped the Nazis with his
parents and arrived in the United States
in 1941 via Japan. His paternal grand-
father, Rabbi Aaron Lewin, was a member
of the Polish parliament and a leader of the
Orthodox movement, Agudath Israel,
before his murder by the Nazis. His
maternal grandfather was a well-known
philanthropist in Amsterdam, and Lewin
can trace his yichus, or family ac-
complishments, back several hundred years
to the great scholars and rabbis of Eastern
Europe.
His father, Dr. Isaac Lewin, is a scholar
and professor who has been active, on
behalf of religious freedom, in the United
Nations Economic and Social Council.
Lewin graduated from Yeshiva Univer-
sity summa cum laude in 1957, but rather
than stay on for rabbinic ordination, he
went to Harvard Law School. He grad-
uated magna cum laude in 1960, having
served as treasurer of the Harvard Law
Review. A year later he was clerking for
Supreme Court Justice John Harlan, es-
tablishing a reputation as one of the most
brilliant clerks in the history of the Court.
From there he went on to serve under
Assistant Attorney General Herbert Miller
(now his law partner in the firm of Miller,
Cassidy, Larroca and Lewin) in prosecuting
former Thamsters president Jimmy Hoffa.
It was a major case for Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy, who praised Lewin as
"an outstanding lawyer and public
servant" in an autographed photo of the
two men together that now hangs at the
entrance to Lewin's office.

Lewin takes pride in his personal, kosher kitchen across the hall from his office, complete with refrigerator, small freezer, microwave oven, and
shelves of canned soups.

Lewin worked from 1963 to 1967 in the
Solicitor General's office under Archibald
Cox and Thurgood Marshall. During that
time he argued more than a dozen cases
before the Supreme Court on behalf of the
government. In 1967, he joined the State
Department as a deputy assistant in
charge of visas and passports — a position
that took on particular Jewish interest
during and just after the Six Day War. As
Lewin recalls, he was 31, and had been in
the job a month when the war broke out.
The White House restricted travel to the
Mideast during the war, and when it ended,
Lewin's office was flooded by reqUests from •
American Jews who wanted to visit Israel.
"The requests were coming in by the
thousands," he says, "and we had shopping
carts full of them. I approved all Of them,
but Frances Knight, who headed the pass-
port office, denied them all. She said I was
undermining government policy," he re-
members with a smile. It took several
weeks for the travel restrictions to be lifted.
Lewin went into private practice in 1969
with Miller, Cassidy — known in the legal
community as a small (about 25 attorneys)
but high-profile firm "rivaling such
powerhouses as Williams & Connolly,"
according to Washington's Legal Times.
The firm represents former White House
aide Michael Deaver as well as former
President Richard Nixon, who is employ-
ing Miller, Cassidy in his continuing effort
to resist releasing presidential documents
and tapes. (After Nixon's resignation it was

partner Herbert "Jack" Miller who was
instrumental in convincing President
Gerald Ford to issue Nixon a controversial
pardon.)

Memorable Cases -

Lewin has been personally involved in
representing some of the firm's best known
clients. In 1982, he arranged a videotape
deposition for actress Jodie Foster when
she was called to testify regarding
presidential assailant John Hinckley's
obsession with her.
He has represented Rabbi Meir Kahane
and members of the Jewish Defense
League on a pro bono basis, though he
disagrees with them philosophically. "I've
accused Meir of ruining the lives of young
people," says Lewin, "of using people and
then abandoning them." Why, then, has he
defended Kahane in court? "My feeling is
that if people believe they are doing
something for the good of the Jewish
people, no matter how misguided they
might be, there is an obligation for Jewish
lawyers to provide their services." (Lewin
said he is not sure whether convicted spy
Jonathan Pollard would come uncier that
category since Pollard was paid for his spy
work. Lewin is representing Israeli Col.
Avraham Sella, one of the principals in the
Pollard affair.)
One of the cases Lewin enjoyed the most,
he says, was the recent one between the
Lubavitcher Rebbe and his nephew over
who should inherit the previous Rebbe's

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