Bentley Kassal (February 28, 1917 – December 16, 2019) was an attorney and litigation counsel with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York City.

He was admitted to the New York State Bar in September 1940 and was an associate in two mid-sized law firms until the American entry into World War II.

After World War II he resumed playing tennis, golf, and skiing until 1998, when he had a double knee replacement.

On March 15, 1943 Life magazine published a letter to the editor, written by Kassal, in which he wondered "what formula" enlisted war hero Herman J. F. Bottcher used to "secure his rapid promotion" from the rank of Sergeant to Captain in the span of one week.

After three months in an officer replacement center in Algeria, he was assigned by the Seventh Army to assist in the planning and to participate in the D-Day landings at Gela, Sicily.

With President Franklin D. Roosevelt's approval, he helped plan the air bombardment of the Montecassino Abbey, which was occupied by German artillery units and blocked the passage to Rome.

Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione told senior U.S. diplomat to the Vatican Harold Tittmann that the bombing was "a colossal blunder ... a piece of a gross stupidity."

When the occupation of Italy was almost complete, Kassal returned to Naples for the Seventh Army invasion at St. Tropez, France, on August 15, 1944.

The troops in Southern France moved north through Alsace-Lorraine, where they were caught in the midst of the Battle of the Bulge and General Patton's counter-attack.

Because of his knowledge of the Luftwaffe, Kassal was assigned to London to prepare for the invasion of Japan, since it was anticipated that German pilots would be part of the Japanese air defense.

Kassel donated several war mementos to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City for its permanent exhibit "Ours to Fight For."

Donated items include several Nazi daggers and swords, his two-volume hand-written personal diaries, and his video oral testimony.

He was the only legislator to vote against the annual re-enactment of the Security Risk Law, which mandated that all state employees execute loyalty oaths during the Cold War.

In 1962, he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent Congressman Leonard Farbstein in the Democratic primary of the 19th District,[1] but was nominated on the Liberal ticket.

His sole criminal matter was representing comedian Lenny Bruce on his arraignment on obscenity charges at Cafe Au Gogo in Greenwich Village.

During almost this entire period, he was a regular guest commentator on radio night talk shows, first with Barry Gray on WMCA and then with Long John Nebel on WOR.

On April 22, 2003, he acted as amicus for Brennan Center for Justice (NYU) in filing a brief at the New York Court of Appeals supporting stringent ethical rules for Judges.

On January 9, 2009, the New York City Bar Association presented as its bi-annual program, "Twentieth Century Traveler: The Life and Perilous Times of the Hon.

He testified as an expert witness on New York law pertaining to pre-nuptial agreements in London at the High Court of Justice in 2003. he acted as a neutral arbitrator, appointed by Movie Fone, in the A.A.A.

On April 12, 2010, he took photographs at the Statesville, North Carolina Synagogue for the Jewish Heritage Research Center (Syracuse University).

His photograph of the original Buddha Statue is featured in the "Vanishing Histories" published by the World Monuments Fund.

On September 11, 2001, from the 48th floor of Skadden's Times Square office, he photographed the second plane crash within minutes after the incident and, took more photos at the scene two days later.