author
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
1856–1941
A brilliant lawyer and reformer, he became the first Jewish justice on the U.S. Supreme Court and one of the most influential legal thinkers of the Progressive Era. He is still remembered for bringing social and economic facts into legal argument and for his strong defense of civil liberties.
2 Audiobooks
Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It
by Louis Dembitz Brandeis
The Right to Privacy
by Samuel D. (Samuel Dennis) Warren, Louis Dembitz Brandeis
About the author
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1856, Louis Dembitz Brandeis studied at Harvard Law School and graduated with an exceptional academic record. Before joining the bench, he built a major reputation as a Boston lawyer who took on powerful interests and argued for public-minded reform, earning the nickname "the people's lawyer."
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served until 1939. He was the first Jewish justice in the Court's history, and his opinions and separate writings helped shape American thinking about free speech, privacy, and the role of government in protecting the public.
Brandeis also stood out for the way he connected law to real life, using social and economic evidence to support legal arguments in a style that became known as the Brandeis brief. His work left a long legacy in constitutional law, legal reform, and American public life.