He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., in 1917[1] and subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army, eventually attaining the rank of second lieutenant.
The firm enjoyed early success as counsel to the trustee in the 1932 bankruptcy proceedings of Ivar Kreuger’s International Match Company.
[3] During World War II, Debevoise was chairman of the Alien Enemy Hearing Board in New York.
Notably, he was a founder of the International Commission of Jurists, one of the first global human rights organizations.
Debevoise also served as chairman of Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s Committee to Review New York Laws and Procedures on Human Rights and helped craft the final report that was delivered in March 1968.