Bessie Margolin

Bessie Margolin (1909 - June 19, 1996) was a U.S. Department of Labor attorney from 1939 until 1972, arguing numerous cases before the Supreme Court.cite news | last =Barnes | first = Bart | title = Obituaries | pages = B06 | publisher = Washington Post | date = 1996-06-21 ] Margolin undertook a large amount of litigation related to the Fair Labor Standards Act, creating a vast body of law in the area of employment standards in the process. [cite news | last = Brinkmann | first = Beth | title = First Argument in the Tradition of Many | pages = 72-73 | publisher = The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process | date = March 2003]

Early life

Margolin's parents, who escaped persecution against Jews in Russia, immigrated to New York City shortly before her birth. Her mother died while Margolin was still young, and she spent the rest of her childhood at the Jewish Children's Home in New Orleans. In 1929, Margolin received her bachelor's degree from Tulane University's Newcomb College. [ cite web | title = Newcomb College institute | url = http://8.12.35.67/alumnae-about-us-awards | accessdate = 2007-11-17 ] She went on to earn her law degree at Tulane and then undertook further legal studies at Yale University. She received her doctorate in law from Yale in 1933. [cite news |title = Yale Graduation is Full of Color | publisher = The New York Times | date = June 21, 1933]

Following her graduation from Yale, Margolin joined the Tennessee Valley Authority as an attorney. As Margolin later stated, "Government attracts the competent women [attorneys] because they have no alternative," referencing the fact that, at the time, most prestigious law firms would not hire women.cite news | title = The Perils of Portia | publisher = Time | date = March 6, 1964]

Her career at the TVA was somewhat clouded by allegations that she had an affair with Larry Fly, then general counsel of the agency. In early 1943, after Margolin had left the TVA and following a Federal Communications Commission investigation into Congressman Eugene Cox (D-GA) for accepting a bribe from radio station WALB, the United States House of Representatives created a special investigative committee, chaired by Cox, to look into the FCC. This committee used the affair allegations to convince Fly, by then chairman of the FCC, to cooperate with the committee. [ cite book | last = Brinson | first = Susan | title = The Red Scare, Politics and the Federal Communications Commission, 1941-1960 | pages = 83-85 | publisher = Praeger | year = 2004]

Department of Labor career

In 1939, Margolin joined the Department of Labor. She became an expert on the Fair Labor Standards Act and was eventually promoted to Assistant Solicitor in charge of Supreme Court appellate litigation. In this role, and in her later role as Associate Solicitor, Margolin argued 27 cases before the Supreme Court. Of these 27 cases, the Department of Labor position prevailed in 25 of them, an impressive 93% success rate. As Associate Solicitor, Margolin supervised 33 other attorneys, making her one of the senior female attorneys in the entire federal government.

Of the many cases Margolin argued before the Supreme Court, particular importance is attached to the following examples. In cite court |litigants= McComb v. Jacksonville Paper Co. |vol= 336 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 187 |year= 1949 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/336/187/case.html, Margolin's arguments resulted in a decision that the Department need not show that violations of a court degree to comply with provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act were willful in order for a court to find the respondent in contempt. This particular decision ended over five years of litigation between the company and the Department and confirmed that contempt of court could be used by the Department to enforce the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. [cite court |litigants= McComb v. Jacksonville Paper Co. |vol= 336 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 187 |year= 1949 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/336/187/case.html] The case of cite court |litigants= Mitchell v. Lublin, McGaughy & Asso. |vol= 358 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 207 |year= 1959 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/358/207/case.html, argued by Margolin, provided a clear definition of "engaged in commerce" and thus made clear what types of employees were covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The decision clarified that the Department's enforcement authority included those who work on plans, drawings and specifications. [cite court |litigants= Mitchell v. Lublin, McGaughy & Asso. |vol= 358 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 207 |year= 1959 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/358/207/case.html]

The respect that the Supreme Court justices had for Margolin is shown in cite court
litigants= Maneja v. Waialua Agricultural Co. |vol= 349 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 254
pinpoint= 255 |year= 1955 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/349/254/case.html, which indicates that the court specifically invited her to argue before the court as amicus curiae. [cite court
litigants= Maneja v. Waialua Agricultural Co. |vol= 349 |reporter= U.S. |opinion= 254
pinpoint= 255 |year= 1955 |url= http://supreme.justia.com/us/349/254/case.html]

Following World War II, Margolin was termporarily assigned to the War Department at the Nuremberg trials. In this role, she drafted the original regulation under which the tribunals were constituted. [ cite book | last = Taylor | first = Telford | title = Final Report to the Secretary of the Army on the Nuernberg War Crimes Trials Under Control Council Law No. 10 | pages = 28 | publisher = United States Government Printing Office | date = August 15, 1949]

In 1963, Hale Boggs recommended to President Lyndon Johnson that Margolin be appointed to the United States Court of Claims. As then Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz told President Johnson, Margolin was a "top notch" attorney and referenced her excellent record arguing before the Supreme Court. In the end, however, President Johnson appointed Wilson Cowen to the post. [cite news | last = Monahan | first = John |title = Politics as Passion: Symptoms of the Demise of Lyndon Johnson | publisher = Miller Center Report | date = Fall/Winter 2003 | pages = 34-36]

Margolin retired from the Department of Labor in 1972. Several Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Earl Warren, came to her retirement dinner. At the dinner, Warren said that Margolin's work had made federal wage and hour law "meaningful and responsible." [cite conference | first = Earl | last = Warren | title = Remarks, dinner marking retirement of Bessie Margolin | booktitle = Earl Warren: A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress | pages = box 832 | publisher = Library of Congress | date = January 28, 1972]

Later life

Following her retirement, Margolin served as an arbitrator and occasionally taught at the George Washington University Law Center. Following a stroke, she died at Arlington Hospital, Virginia.

References

*cite conference | first = Bessie | last = Margolin | title = Equal Pay and Equal Employment Opportunities for Women | booktitle = New York University Conference of Labor | pages = 297 | publisher = New York University Press| year = 1967
*cite news | first = Mary | last = Clark | title = Women as Supreme Court Advocates, 1879–1979 | publisher = Journal of Supreme Court History | date = March 2005 | pages = 47-67
*cite news | first = Clare | last = Cushman | title = Women Advocates Before the Supreme Court | publisher = Journal of Supreme Court History | date = March 2001 | pages = 67–88