[1] Rifkind was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 25, 1941, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Robert P. Patterson[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 3, 1941, and received his commission on June 6, 1941.

[1] In 1945 and 1946, Rifkind served as a temporary special advisor to President Dwight Eisenhower, advising him on Jewish affairs in the European theater of World War II.

In 1947, he began to serve as the vice president the Jewish Theological Seminary's board of directors.

[3] After his resignation from the federal bench, Rifkind returned to private practice in New York City from 1950,[1] with the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he continued to serve as a senior partner until his death.

[2] He died on November 14, 1995, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York City.