Geoffrey Bindman’s transatlantic adventure continues
My teaching responsibilities at Northwestern in the year of my fellowship were supposed to occupy only half my time. In the second half I could pursue other scholarly interests. I decided to take a course in labour law taught by Professor Willard Wirtz.
Bill Wirtz was a partner in the law firm of Stevenson, Rifkind and Wirtz. Later he became President Kennedy’s Secretary of Labour after his election in 1960. Attending Bill’s classes led to my recruitment as a researcher at his firm. The senior partner was Adlai Stevenson, governor of and former Democratic presidential candidate. Part-time work in private practice was a customary way of supplementing a modest academic salary. My colleague, John Morris, who had a family to support, was already working regularly for Wirtz’s firm.
DISCRIMINATION
I joined John in the team working on a ground-breaking discrimination case. The clients wanted to build a low-cost housing estate which would bring black residents into one of ’s “lily white” northern suburbs. The elected representatives
