Myer S. Isaacs

Myer Samuel Isaacs (May 8, 1841 – May 24, 1904) was a Jewish-American lawyer and judge from New York.

Life Isaacs was born on May 8, 1841, in New York City, the son of Rev. Samuel Myer Isaacs and Jane Symmonds. His paternal grandfather was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands and his mother was of English extract. His brother was Rabbi Abram S. Isaacs.

Isaacs attended Forests' Collegiate School. In 1856, he entered New York University, where he was awarded all prizes in freshman and sophomore year. He graduated from there in 1859. He then went to New York University School of Law, graduating from there in 1862. He was admitted to the bar on his twenty-first birthday and began practicing law. His specialty was real estate law, wills, and trusts. He initially clerked in the office of John H. and Samuel Riker prior to his admittance to the bar. In 1866, he became associated with his friend Adolph L. Sanger. In 1870, his brother joined the firm, and the three continued working together until Sanger's death in 1894. In 1896, two of Isaac's sons joined the firm, M. S. and I. S. Isaacs. He continued working for the firm until his death. From 1887 to 1897, he was a lecturer on real estate law for New York University School of Law. He was on the Special Committee of Counsel for the Lawyers' Title Insurance Company since its inception in 1887.

In 1880, Governor Alonzo B. Cornell appointed Isaacs Justice of the Marine Court of New York to fill a vacancy. He was the Republican candidate for that office for the ensuring term, as well as for the Superior Court in 1891 and the New York Supreme Court in 1895, losing all three elections. He was a member of the Committee on Reform Legislation for New York in 1884 as well as a member of a Republican Club committee that proposed amendments to the New York State Constitution in 1894. As a member of the Outdoor Recreation League, he helped established Seward Park on the Lower East Side and the Roof-Playground of the Hebrew Institute. He was active in the movement to improve dwellings for the poor. He helped organize the Citizens Union in 1897. He was a director and vice-president of the Real Estate Exchange from 1886 to 1890. He was also president of the Woodbine Land Improvement Company from 1898 to 1900, and was elected a trustee of Columbia Bank in 1888 and the American Savings Bank in 1890.

Isaacs helped edit his father's paper The Jewish Messenger when it was founded in 1857, when he was only sixteen. He remained active with the paper until he retired from active control in 1872, although he continued to be a contributor for the paper.

Isaacs was a member of the New York City Bar Association since 1872, and the American Bar Association.