[1] In 1986, Rubenstein was awarded a Harvard Fellowship in Public Interest Law to help start an AIDS Project at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Rubenstein advocated for a larger and more inclusive commission and closer conformity with the terms of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Rubenstein argued the landmark case, Braschi v. Stahl Associates, 544 N.E.2d 49 (N.Y. 1989), before New York's highest court, yielding the first decision in the United States recognizing an unmarried but cohabitating gay couple as a legal family.
[2] While at UCLA (1997-2007), Rubenstein founded the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, a think tank "dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy"[1][7] In 2000, he was chosen as that year's Honoring with Pride honoree by the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
He has written about how institutional lead plaintiffs request proposals from law firms seeking to represent them in securities class actions.
[9][11] He is co-chair of the Class Action Subcommittee of the ABA's Mass Torts Committee, which addresses current and emerging issues in management aspects of mass tort litigation, including joinder of multiple parties and the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
[3] Rubenstein's books about issues of sexuality and health include Cases and Materials on Sexual Orientation and the Law (1997); the co-authored work, The Rights of People Who Are HIV Positive (1996) (which received the 1997 American Bar Association Certificate of Merit);[9] Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Law (1993); and AIDS Agenda: Emerging Issues in Civil Rights (1992), co-edited with Nan D.
[3] Since 2008, Rubenstein has been the sole author of Newberg on Class Actions and he is in the process of re-writing the entire eleven-volume treatise for its Fifth Edition.