Alvin Kenneth Hellerstein (b.1933) is an American lawyer and senior U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York. His judicial career has shaped rulings on civil liberties, national security, and corporate litigation.
Born in New York City, he attended the Bronx High School of Science before earning a B.A. from Columbia College (1954) and a J.D. from Columbia Law School (1956,) where he was an editor of Columbia Law Review.
Hellerstein began his legal career clerking for Judge Edmund Palmieri of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He later served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1957–60) before entering private practice. He became a partner and co-head of litigation at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, working there 1960–98.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, Hellerstein presided over several high-profile cases, including litigation related to the September 11 attacks and the Harvey Weinstein trial. He assumed senior status in 2011. His legal works include The New and Proposed Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1984) and A Comprehensive Survey of the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Doctrine (1994.)
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To the totality of purposes of the perfect Law there belong the abandonment, depreciation, and restraint of desires in so far as possible.
—Alvin Hellerstein
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