Martin D. Ginsburg


Martin David Ginsburg was an American lawyer who specialized in tax law and was the husband of American lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He taught law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. and was of counsel to the American law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Early life and education

Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, to Evelyn and Morris Ginsburg, a department store executive, and grew up on New York's Long Island. His family was Jewish. Ginsburg earned a B.A. from Cornell University in 1953 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1958. He was a star on Cornell's golf team. Ginsburg finished a year at law school and married Joan Ruth Bader after her graduation from Cornell. That same year, Ginsburg, an ROTC Officer in the Army Reserve, was called up for active duty, and stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Ginsburg had an undergraduate training in chemistry. In 1956, he returned to law school and his wife also entered Harvard Law School. During his third year at Harvard, Ginsburg endured two operations and radiation therapy to treat testicular cancer.

Career

After graduating from law school in 1958, Ginsburg joined the firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He was subsequently admitted to the bar in New York in 1959 and in the District of Columbia in 1980.
Ginsburg taught at New York University Law School as an adjunct faculty member from 1967 to 1979. He was a visiting professor at Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, and NYU. He was a tenured professor at Columbia Law School from 1979 to 1980, and at Georgetown Law Center from 1980 until his death in 2010.
In 1971, Ginsburg's firm represented Ross Perot in a business matter, and the two men became close friends. After President Jimmy Carter nominated his wife to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980, Ginsburg reached out to Perot and other influential friends to assure her Senate confirmation. In 1984, Ginsburg resolved complex tax questions that threatened General Motors's acquisition of Perot's Electronic Data Systems. In 1986, Perot endowed the Martin Ginsburg chair in taxation at Georgetown, although Ginsburg never filled this appointment.

Personal life and marriage

Shortly after graduating from Cornell in 1954, Ginsburg married Ruth Bader on June 23. Ruth said she and Martin decided whatever profession they pursued, they would pursue it together. The couple chose law, and both studied at Harvard Law School.
They are the parents of Jane Carol Ginsburg, and James Steven Ginsburg. Martin often told people how he did not make Law Review at Harvard, and Ruth did, sharing how he was proud of her successes, even when they were above his own. However, as he was also very successful in his career as a tax attorney, the couple enjoyed supporting one another and maintaining balance. Ginsburg was quoted as saying, "We had nearly two whole years far from school, far from career pressures and far from relatives, to learn about each other and begin to build a life." They thrived in their own domains. As his lighthearted self, Martin liked to say he was very lucky to have gotten in on an incredible journey by marrying Ruth, on her pathway to the Supreme Court.

Death

Martin David
Ginsburg died from cancer on June 27, 2010.

In popular culture

In the 2018 film On the Basis of Sex, a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Marty is portrayed by Armie Hammer, with Ruth played by Felicity Jones.

Writings