Herman Phleger was an attorney and former legal advisor for the Department of State under the Eisenhower administration. Born in Sacramento, California in 1890, Phleger earned a B.S. from University of California, Berkeley in 1914 and studied law at Berkeley Law (formerly known as Boalt Hall) and Harvard Law School. He worked as a lawyer and law school lecturer until WWI, when he served in the Navy from 1917 to 1918. In 1945, he was appointed the Associate Director of the Legal Division of the US Military Government of Germany and later served as a Legal Advisor for the State Department from 1953 to 1957. Afterwards, he also served as a US representative to the Permanent Court of Arbitration of the Hague Conventions in and at the 1959 Antarctica Conference. In this interview, Phleger discusses the Northern California courts in the thirties, moralistic legislation, labor and waterfront cases at Brobeck, Phleger, and Harrison, and California law firms. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting the Northern California U.S. District Court.