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Lawyers In Love: The 'Equal Partnership' Forged Between Ruth And Martin Ginsburg

A 'thoroughly modern love story.'

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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As lucrative and rewarding as his work was, Dad always saw Mom’s as more important. He truly thrived in supporting her. His persistent lobbying to get Mom considered for Clinton’s first Supreme Court vacancy is well documented. What is less well-known is how hard he worked behind the scenes to get her to the Court of Appeals in DC, without which appointment the Supreme Court would never have happened.

When Mom got that job in 1980, acquaintances commiserated about how hard it would be for her to commute from New York. The idea that a man would give up his successful law firm practice and his new tenured position at Columbia Law School to follow his wife was beyond most of their contemporaries’ imaginations. But there was no question in his mind that it was his turn to follow her now. When asked about making such a sacrifice, his answer was always, “It’s not sacrifice; it’s family.”

— James Ginsburg, the son of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and renowned tax attorney Martin Ginsburg, describing the “equal partnership” that characterized his parents’ marriage a “thoroughly modern love story.”

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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