Laurence J. Rittenband

Who was Laurence J. Rittenband?

Laurence J. Rittenband was an American judge. He was a judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California.

The son of a New York clothing manufacturer, he graduated at the age of 19 from the New York University School of Law, after having entered directly from high school. After graduating with his law degree from NYU, he found he was too young to take the bar exam. While waiting, he earned a degree from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude.

After passing the bar, he worked in the U.S. Attorney's office in New York and taught law at City College of New York. He also had a private law practice. He was wounded in North Africa during World War II.

He was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1961 by then-Governor Edmund G. Brown, Sr. He was appointed to the Superior Court the following year.

His legal career spanned 60 years, during which he presided over several much publicized cases, including Elvis Presley's divorce, Marlon Brando's child-custody battle, a paternity suit against Cary Grant, and the criminal proceedings against Roman Polanski.