Herlands, William Bernard
HERLANDS, WILLIAM BERNARD
HERLANDS, WILLIAM BERNARD (1905–1969), U.S. lawyer and judge. Herlands, who was born in New York City, practiced law in New York with George Z. *Medalie from 1928 to 1931. After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (1931–34), he was appointed assistant corporation counsel by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in 1934. A year later he became chief trial assistant to n.y. County special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey in the latter's campaign against organized crime, handling cases in the restaurant industry and other areas. From 1938 to 1944 Herlands served as New York City commissioner of investigation. He was particularly vigilant in exposing municipal corruption and investigating the German-American Bund. While in private law practice from 1944 to 1954, Herlands served at various periods in special investigative positions. After being appointed New York State's first commissioner of investigation in 1954, he was named by President Eisenhower to be Federal District Court judge for the Southern District of New York in 1955, a post he held until his death. Herlands, who was extremely active in Jewish affairs, was an honorary president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and a director of the Jewish Welfare Board.