Dorsen successfully argued the case of In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), before the U.S. Supreme Court which held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process rights as adults.

[3] He argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including Levy v. Louisiana (1968), ensuring equal protection for out-of-wedlock children, and United States v. Vuitch (1971), the first abortion case to reach the Court.

[4] Dorsen sat on the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

His papers related to multiple aspects of the American civil liberties movement from the 1950s to the 1980s are housed in the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

"[12] Dorsen met his future wife, Harriette Koffler, at NYU and the couple married in 1965.