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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Benjamin Sigal, lawyer, civil rights advocate

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Benjamin Sigal, a pioneer in Hawai'i labor law who also was a tenacious fighter for the civil rights of the underprivileged, died March 12 in Honolulu. He was 96.

Benjamin Sigal played a major role in determining how ACLU cases were handled here.

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Sigal was born March 27, 1906, in Philadelphia. He earned his law degree at Harvard Law School and established himself as a top labor attorney on the East Coast.

He moved to Hawai'i in 1966 and became a partner in the law firm Shim, Sigal, Tam & Naito. Sigal quickly became one of the top labor lawyers in the state.

He represented numerous unions, including the Honolulu Symphony musicians, University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers' Organization.

Sigal also was a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i and played a major role in determining how ACLU cases were handled.

Intermediate Court of Appeals Associate Judge Dan Foley was the ACLU's first staff attorney in 1984. He called Sigal his mentor.

"The early civil rights lawyers in this state were really the labor lawyers. These guys were combination labor/civil rights advocates so they were really pioneers," Foley said. "I remember his passion and commitment and single-mindedness as far as the working person, the underprivileged minorities.

"He was very forceful, he was committed, he was very focused," Foley said. "He knew how to mix it up. He always had an opinion and wasn't shy about giving it."

Raymond Tam was a law partner with Sigal for 20 years.

"The one thing I remember about him was he's a fighter, but he always played by the rules," Tam said.

Sigal was the president of Temple Emanu-El from 1971 to 1973 and was an adjunct professor at the UH William Richardson School of Law.

He is survived by his wife, Freda. Services will be at 2 p.m. May 4 at Temple Emanu-El.