Bentley Kassal

Bentley Kassal (February 28, 1917 – December 16, 2019) was an attorney and litigation counsel with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City. He was a New York State Assemblyman, a judge of the New York State Courts at every level, and a World War II veteran. An early rugby football player, he was a member of the 1940 Harvard Rugby Football team, which was the undefeated champion of the Eastern Rugby League. Kassal was married to Barbara Joan Wax Kassal, a retired business executive from Bonwit Teller in New York City.

Early life Kassal was born in the Harlem area of Manhattan, New York City, on February 28, 1917, to Pauline Nirenberg Kassal and Hyman Kassal, born in Poland and Austria, respectively. Kassal graduated from Public School 86 in the Bronx (1930), Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan (1933), the University of Pennsylvania, B.A. (1937) and Harvard Law School, J.D. (1940), but was nominated on the Liberal ticket. In November 1962, he was defeated by Farbstein, and resumed his law practice as a single practitioner. In 1969, Kassal won the Democratic primary for a seat on the New York City Civil Court.

Legal career (1940–1969) As a single practitioner, his specialties were civil litigation, real estate, estates, and matrimonials. His sole criminal matter was representing comedian Lenny Bruce on his arraignment on obscenity charges at Cafe Au Gogo in Greenwich Village. During almost this entire period, he was a regular guest commentator on radio night talk shows, first with Barry Gray on WMCA and then with Long John Nebel on WOR.

Judicial career (1970–1993) Serving in the Civil Court of the City of New York for six years (1970–1976), he was the judge assigned to establish the Housing Court. He also introduced the Small Claims Court into the State of Israel. He served in the New York Supreme Court for six years and was appointed by Governor Hugh Carey to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department, in 1987, where he served for 12 years. During this period, he was appointed by Chief Judge Sol Wachtler to serve for the April/May 1985 term at the New York Court of Appeals, the State's highest court. and died in December 2019 at the age of 102.