He served in the United States Department of Justice from 1914 to 1917, serving as a confidential clerk to Attorney General James Clark McReynolds from 1914 to 1916 and as a law clerk and assistant attorney from 1916 to 1917.

He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1959 to 1961.

[1] Among the cases which Pine presided over was a 1952 matter which eventually came before the United States Supreme Court as Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v.

[citation needed][2]: x, 108–109  In that case, Pine issued an injunction barring the government from continuing to hold steel plants that it had seized on the order of Harry S.

[2]: ix–xi  Pine found this to exceed the power of the President,[2]: 126–129  and the Supreme Court ultimately agreed with him, upholding the injunction.